Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) , has announced the 7^th edition of the prestigious international conference will be  holding on 2^nd and 3^rd December 2021 under the theme “Advancing inclusive, resilient and sustainable growth in the post-COVID-19 African economy.”

Shell Downstream South Africa, Nedbank, FedEx Express, AWS, Roche, AGRA, City of Johannesburg, Balsamiq, and PayFast have all partnered with AWIEF as proud Sponsors of the AWIEF 2021 Conference and AWIEF Awards.

The annual AWIEF conference is an international platform that sees global thought leaders, industry experts, policymakers, academics, regional and international development partners, and investors gather to dialogue, connect, network, share, collaborate and transact in a combined effort to accelerate the growth of women-owned and women-led MSMEs and SMEs for Africa’s inclusive economic growth.

The AWIEF 2021 Conference and the AWIEF Awards will both take place as hybrid events (virtual and in-person). The venue for the in-person events is the Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Strategy Specialist Nirmala Reddy, Nedbank Business Banking, Enterprise Development, said “Nedbank’s philosophy of seeing money differently has set it on a journey with phenomenal women that want to be part of the solution to rebuild the economy. Through targeted programmes and interventions, Nedbank supports the business owner in her capacity as leader, innovator, coach, strategist and many other roles she must fulfil.”. The programmes and interventions are tailored, encompassing all aspects of the business value chain to enable them to take their business to the next level” Reddy adds

“ As Shell South Africa, our aim, through Enterprise and Supplier Development, is to contribute towards progressing South Africa’s Transformation journey, through the creation, and support of businesses that flourish and grow in an inclusive South African economy and beyond.

We have partnered with AWIEF since 2018 and this partnership has enabled us to contribute towards progressing South Africa’s transformation by engaging over 1300 women entrepreneurs to grow their networks, access markets and finance.”, says Ntobeko Mogadime, Transformation Adviser for Shell Downstream South Africa.

“We’re excited to partner with AWIEF whose goals of economic inclusion and empowering entrepreneurs align closely with those of PayFast. We believe that enabling female entrepreneurs through technology and specifically ecommerce, will drive innovation and economic growth in Africa, giving women more opportunities to create value in their communities while generating an income through online payments”, says Colleen Harrison, Head of Marketing at PayFast.

High-level global speakers will lead discussions on post-pandemic recovery and sustainable economic growth for Africa. This includes a Ministers’ panel made up of African Ministers from Egypt, Rwanda and Ghana, and joining them, is a representative from the African Development Bank.

To view the line-up of global speakers for AWIEF 2021, please click here (https://bit.ly/3kOpSz1).

To register for the virtual AWIEF 2021 Conference and the AWIEF Awards, please follow this link: https://bit.ly/AWIEF2021registration To attend in-person in Johannesburg the Conference and/or the AWIEF Awards ceremony and gala dinner, email: [email protected]

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