The first Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) West Africa Regional Summit will bring together heads of state, leaders of multilateral development banks, key We-Fi government representatives, private sector executives, and women entrepreneurs to discuss ways to expand opportunities for women-led small and medium-sized enterprises in West Africa. With a focus on the role of technology in supporting agribusiness and other high-growth industries, the Summit aims to galvanize high-level support for public policy reforms and private sector actions to promote women’s entrepreneurship in the region. The Summit is hosted by His Excellency Mr. Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, and organized by We-Fi in collaboration with the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank, and the Islamic Development Bank. The recording above shows the Fireside Chat with Kristalina Georgieva and Ivanka Trump, followed by a Women Entrepreneurs Panel. For the full replay of the event, please see below.

The State of the Africa Region event opened on a musical note with a performance by Menes la Plume, a songwriter, hip-hop artist and poet. La Plume, a refugee and activist living in Malawi, closed with a crowd-pleasing rendition of “Malaika.”    Hafez Ghanem, World Bank Vice President for Africa, welcomed the standing-room only crowd, highlighting the need for regional cooperation in tackling entrenched challenges, particularly fragility, the effects of which traverse national borders. He spoke of the importance of digital interventions in transforming African economies, sharing the story of a young Malian man who used a 3D printer to build a prosthetic hand for a girl who had lost hers as an example of young people using technology to create solutions.  Albert Zeufack, World Bank Chief Economist for Africa, added that the digital revolution could add up to 2 percentage points to Africa’s growth annually, while reducing poverty by 1 percentage point.  There was a touching moment of solidarity when Hassan ...