Hundreds of women entrepreneurs gather in Nairobi for Absa InspireMe Conference

Speaking at the two-day Absa Inspire Me Conference 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, Rebecca Miano said women possess immense power to work on their personality and achieve higher goals in their trade. 

“Competence breeds confidence. I want to encourage women to embrace personal development so that they are more competent in whatever they are doing. At the same time, I want to encourage you ladies to be resilient and embrace hard work in your trade to achieve your targets,” Miano said.

In the conference attended by women entrepreneurs drawn from Absa participating countries, the CS also encouraged attendees to surround themselves with great mentors who will help them grow in their businesses.

She urged the women entrepreneurs to cultivate constructive relationships with the right people, identify role models in their diverse fields, borrow their good habits and emulate them to succeed. 

“Try to study successful personalities and pick what works for them so that you can practise it and emulate them. This way as ladies we are going to be competitive enough to achieve our goals,” Miano asserted. 

CS Miano lauded Absa Bank for leading the way in helping grow women-led businesses across the continent, especially by organising such fora that strengthen and create opportunities for women-led SMEs to access information, market linkages, business-to-business networking and mentorship opportunities.

She said her ministry looks to increase local manufacturing and exports, and encouraged SMEs involved in local manufacturing and innovation to keep up the drive to grow the country’s economy.

“I want to thank Absa for committing Ksh100B into financing and helping women-led SMEs,” Miano averred. 

Other speakers at the conference also expressed optimism in growth and expansion of women-led businesses, further asking for financial support to achieve their targets and growth.

Attendees of the conference at the Movenpick Hotel were drawn from Kenya, Ghana, Zambia, Mauritius, and Uganda, as well as participating countries under SheTrades Hubs in Africa, that is, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa, Ghana, The Gambia, and Nigeria.

Women-led businesses have been on the rise across Africa, with the World Bank estimating that 58% of all African SMEs are women-owned businesses contributing to approximately 30% of the continent’s total GDP compared to 70% from the male counterparts. 

Women continue to lag due to the barrier of access to finance, one of the biggest challenges on the continent that contributes to stagnation and even the collapse of women-owned businesses.

The Absa Inspire Me Conference is aimed at facilitating stakeholder engagement and discussions to address business challenges that exist for women-owned businesses as well as to identify opportunities for the businesses. 

Concurrent with the forum and as part of the Kenya-UK Trade Mission, select women-led businesses from the agrifood, textiles and apparel, handicrafts, and accessories sectors participated in a series of one-to-one business meetings with potential buyers from the UK delegation and African corporations. 

Representatives from participating International Trade Centre SheTrades Hubs also discussed potential collaboration with the three participating UK delegates from the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chamber International, and West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as export opportunities available through the UK Developing Countries Trading Scheme. 

The Absa InspireMe Conference is an initiative under Absa Bank’s women in business proposition, launched in 2021. The annual conference, aimed at facilitating market linkages, B2B networking, and business mentorship for women entrepreneurs, took place on 18-19 June 2024 under the theme “Empowering Your Story for Growth.”

The theme aligned with Absa’s new brand promise, launched earlier this year, "Your Story Matters," which dedicates the bank’s purpose to a more deliberately customer-centric focus.

Over the last three years, the conference has united over 8,000 women across Africa, offering them the chance to learn from mission-driven women business leaders in Ghana, Zambia, Uganda, and Kenya.