We are pleased to announce the Technology as an Enabler for Growth program by LagosMums in partnership with the Department of State’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs’ Providing Opportunities for Women’s Economic Rise (POWER) Initiative and U.S. Consulate Lagos. The program will work with lead tech companies, such as Google, to focus on the use of technology as an enabler to scale and grow women-owned businesses.
Through the POWER initiative, women learn skills and gain access to resources that will support their entrepreneurial and business activities. Spearheaded by Assistant Secretary Manisha Singh, the POWER initiative aims to support the full participation of women in the formal economy, particularly within sectors traditionally dominated by men.
POWER supports the goals of the U.S. government’s Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, or W-GDP, which was launched in February 2019. The W-GDP is the first whole-of-government approach to global women’s economic empowerment, and includes three pillars: Women Prospering in the Workforce, Women Succeeding as Entrepreneurs, and Women Enabled in the Economy.
Mrs Yetty Williams, the founder of LagosMums foundation, is committed to the development of families and recognizes the importance of the economic development of women in their multiple roles within communities. LagosMums has been selected as the program partner with the U.S. Consulate in Lagos, Nigeria, to implement the POWER program in Nigeria, West Africa.
Yetty Williams over the years has gained a lot of experience when dealing with families, mothers and women business owners. Yetty brings a unique set of experiences as a Social entrepreneur, founder of LagosMums, Digital media marketing consultant, over 20 years working experience, an MBA degree (Finance and Strategy) from the Yale School of Management and Strategic Digital Marketing from the University of Cambridge and Upgrad.
She can attest to the reality that many businesses struggle to scale due to an inability to fully utilize the benefits of technology and digital media marketing to grow their business. As a digital media marketing expert herself, she has seen first hand the potential for success that a business can unlock once positioned to use technology. Her desire is to empower and educate more women-owned businesses to use technology as an enabler to scale and grow.
The program will select 100 female entrepreneurs across Nigeria to scale their businesses through the LagosMums Academy. The goal is to take these female entrepreneurs through a series of training and workshops. They will identify and implement technology as an enabler to further optimize, scale and grow their businesses locally and globally.
Sub Saharan Africa has the largest number of Women-owned businesses globally. Over the past years, LagosMums Academy has trained women in improving and acquiring digital media skills to grow their businesses.
“We are thrilled to partner with LagosMums through the U.S. Consulate in Lagos on the Technology as an Enabler for Growth program. We recognize it’s smart economic policy to ensure that women can fully participate in the formal economy, and we strive to do that through the Bureau’s POWER initiative.” – Beeta Ehdaie, PhD, Senior Advisor on Women’s Economic Empowerment and POWER Initiative Administrator, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, U.S. Department of State
“We’re glad to be supporting the LagosMums academy for entrepreneurs through the POWER initiative. Small businesses are the lifeline of many African countries, including Nigeria. Beyond contributing to the country’s GDP, they provide jobs and a means of livelihood to many young people. Through this platform, we will be able to provide much-needed training to help these entrepreneurs develop the skill they need to take advantage of ours and other online tools to connect, grow and build wealth.” – Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, Head of Brand and Reputation, Sub-saharan Africa at Google
Participation
Call for entries will commence on September 1, 2020. All women-owned businesses who fit the criteria can apply for a chance to be selected as one of the 100 participants. For more information on the criteria for entry visit www.lagosmums.com/POWER
Further Background
In 2019, the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs launched a new State Department initiative to promote women’s economic empowerment called “Providing Opportunities for Women’s Economic Rise,” or POWER.
Through POWER, the State Department’s Economic Bureau leverages the full reach of U.S. diplomatic economic networks in support of women’s economic empowerment. POWER helps women identify opportunities and develop competitive strategies in emerging sectors, traditionally dominated by men in the U.S. and abroad.
The long-term effectiveness of efforts to empower women economically depends on the existence of strong, active professional female networks. POWER helps establish these networks to support women in expanding their businesses and overcoming barriers. Women leaders are key to developing strong business networks for women.
“Economic Success for women is about more than having a seat in the boardroom or running our own companies. It’s ultimately about controlling our own fates and our own futures. It’s about moving societies forward for everyone’s benefit.” – Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, Manisha Singh
It is certainly time for more women-owned businesses to take advantage of technology to access global opportunities and grow their businesses.
I look forward to this laudable initiative and I am certainly honoured to have been selected as a program partner for this initiative. I strongly believe that the more women we empower to see technology as an enabler, the more successful women-owned businesses we will be able to boast of in our Country, Nigeria and across the world. – Yetty Williams, Founder & CEO LagosMums