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agricultural trade and investment; legal status and property
rights; and transport and logistics facilitation.
This strategic approach addresses the majority of chal-
lenges faced by women in the ‘road economy’ that also takes
into account cross-border trade challenges while enhancing
national and regional agricultural value chains. The approach
has been proven to deepen AfDB’s engagement with gender
issues by strengthening gender mainstreaming in all of the
bank’s country and regional operations and strategies.
Emphasis has been placed on rehabilitating and building new
infrastructural facilities to increase access to clean water and sani-
tation, clean energy and health facilities. The bank also improves
cross-border trade, especially in agriculture, with a focus on
gender-responsive free trade agreements. To increase women’s
access to financial services, AfDB supports financial literacy train-
ing for women and recently launched the Affirmative Finance
Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA). AFAWA aims to address
the critical elements of the entrepreneurship ecosystem of
women in business in Africa, in particular finance, to support
their economic empowerment, reduce vulnerability and unleash
their unused potential for equitable growth. In sum, address-
ing the economic empowerment of women requires a holistic
approach, and lessons learned from past success stories of AfDB
projects have paved the way for the holistic approaches derived
from its Gender Strategy.
Addressing the financial empowerment of women in
Africa collectively points to the need for AfDB, national
governments, regional bodies, the private sector and the
development community to adopt initiatives that strategically
tackle the root causes of women’s poverty in Africa. Success
stories prove that there is an undisputed case for facilitated
gender finance for women in Africa. Holistically one would
prioritize projects that provide employment, enhance injec-
tion of wealth into the local economies and increase multiplier
effects through improved savings, increased capital for further
investment and increased purchasing power. Join us.
Ghana: Fufulso-Sawla Road and Community Development Project
The Fufulso-Sawla Road and Community Development Project
was inaugurated in August 2015. This project is located in the
northern region of Ghana between the towns of Fufulso and Sawla
(148 kilometres). It provides the shortest direct link between
Temale and Wa (the northern region’s two regional capitals)
and links two regional corridors. The area is one of the poorest
regions in Ghana with an estimated population of 400,000. The
project has generated several positive impacts on women and
on gender equality at the household and community levels. The
road construction created temporary jobs for women as skilled
and unskilled workers. It also provided opportunities for ancillary
activities such as the sale of meals at the construction sites.
More long-term and substantial income-earning opportunities
have been created, such as the market centres that have formalized
small businesses and expanded trading with other markets in the
country. The four market centres each feature 72 sheltered stalls
with water supply and sanitary facilities, and four large lorry parks
with a surface area of approximately 5,000 square metres. Incomes
are also more sustainable with the completion of the rehabilitation
of a 2,000 cubic metre grain storage barn at Damango. Employment
opportunities have also been enhanced with the construction of a
Conservation Museum at Mole National Park.
The Fufulso-Sawla Road and Community Development Project has created
long-term income-earning opportunities for women through new market centres
Image: AfDB
Rwanda: One Cow per Poor Family
The AfDB Dairy Cattle Development Support Project (PADEBL)
substantially supports the project ‘One Cow per Poor Family’
(Girinka). The project seeks to reduce child malnutrition rates and
increase household incomes of poor farmers. This is achieved
by providing poor households with a heifer. Each cow provides
nutrition, employment, a stable source of income and is a source of
manure to assist small-scale cropping activity.
More than 203,000 families have benefited from the programme
while the target is to reach 350,000 Rwandese families by 2017.
Beneficiaries lauded the project’s impact, with most of them stating
that the income from the surplus production of milk had enabled
them to educate their children, subscribe to the national health
insurance scheme, upgrade their homes and improve their living
conditions. In addition to the purchase and distribution of heifers,
PADEBL is implementing other support activities such as the
construction of milk collection centres, artificial insemination, and
vaccination campaigns for project beneficiaries.
Selling milk output as a result of Girinka: each cow provides nutrition,
employment and a stable source of income
Image: AfDB
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