Angelique Kidjo, the world acclaimed songstress from the Republic of Benin has helped secure the sum of $251 million for budding female entrepreneurs in Africa.
It was at the G7 Summit in the French resort of Biarritz, where she convinced leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK to part with the sum.
According to her, the funding is about helping women into business and then helping them grow their businesses.
Kidjo, who is the ambassador of the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa, an agency of the African Development Bank said the priority is for small-scale entrepreneurs in Africa to get access to the funds.
“My primary focus is women in the rural areas”, she said,” the women of the market and the women who are not easy to reach out to”. She is of the opinion that this set of “women… don’t trust banks because they are not welcome in any banks.”
According to a report by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2016/17 Women’s Report, Africa has the highest percentage of female entrepreneurs in the world, meaning one in four women start or manage their own business at a point in time.
