CAWEE, as part of the Mesirat Project, organized Networking & Cross Fertilization Event, December 18, 2023, experience sharing platform at Radisson Blu Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
At the event, 43 participants (37 women & 7 men) took part, including Mesirat’s Project Office Team, Consortium Partners, project participants and esteemed CAWEE members.
The event was officially opened with a brief remark delivered by Dr. Nigest Haile, Executive Director of CAWEE, where brief presentation on the Mesirat Project was delivered by Saba Zewdu, Regional Project Manager at Gebeya for Mesirat Project.
At the panel organized, the networking & cross fertilization event discussion highlighted and discussed on the theme “Successful Business Journeys of Female Business Leaders, Challenges they Faced & How they overcome that”.
The panel had four esteemed panelists: Mrs. Samrawit Fikru (Founder and CEO of Ride & Co-Founder of Tereta FM 96.7 Radio), Mrs. Azeb Asefa (Founder & CEO of Axis & Yeblu Foods), Ms. Beza Ayalew (Founder and CEO at Be-Singularity) and Mrs. Ararat Tamirat (Founder & CEO at Tuba by Ararat), where they shared their remarkable business journeys, the challenges they faced & the strategies they used to overcome the challenges. The event was participatory, where participants of the event benefited from the invaluable experience & advice of the panelists.
The event was officially closed by Saba Zewdu, in appreciating CAWEE’s great work and thanking all participants of the event.
5th Breakfast Meeting of CAWEE & KAS
CAWEE in partnership with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) organizes a series of breakfast meetings. The 5th breakfast meeting took place on Saturday, December 2, 2023, at the Sheraton Addis Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The breakfast meeting focused on discussing the theme “Social Enterprises in Ethiopia: Opportunities and Challenges.”
The meeting was officially opened by Mr. Lukas Kupfernagel, Country Director, KAS Office Ethiopia/African Union, where he thanked the panelists, participants and CAWEE for being a social agent.
Present at the meeting were 43 (29 females and 14 males) invited guests from the private sector, social enterprises, development partners and CAWEE members.
The meeting had three panelists (Mr. Kibret Abebe, President of Social Enterprises Ethiopia & Founder and CEO of Tebita Ambulance; Mrs. Serawit “Cherry” Teketel Friedmeyer, Co-Founder of Ellilta International and Dr. Hassen Hussien, CEO of the Entrepreneurship Development Institution, where they shared their opinions and involvements under the theme for discussion. The meeting was moderated by Dr. Nigest Haile, Executive Director of CAWEE.
The panel aimed at identifying the underlying challenges and opportunities in the emerging Ethiopian social enterprises ecosystem; as such enterprises play a pivotal role as agents of social and economic transformation in the country. The meeting was very engaging, where participants provided their reflections and opinions.
The breakfast meeting served as a platform for meaningful discussion about the pressing issue faced by social enterprises in Ethiopia. It also provided opportunities to explore potential solutions for the way forward.
With the generous support secured from GIZ AU AfCFTA Support Office, eight CAWEE members ( Ande Mamma, Elilta Products, Entoto Beth Artisan, Jerrocia Coffee, Kedemt Coffee, Natural Leather, Samore Flower and Yewebdar Crafts) are taking part at the IATF2023.
CAWEE’s Executive Director Met Ethiopian Ambassador in Egypt
The Executive Director of CAWEE, Nigest Haile (Dr.) met H. E. Hassen Ibrahim, Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Egypt and Libya at the Ethiopian Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. During the meeting, the Executive Director briefed the Ambassador and his Team on what CAWEE is doing, with a focus to the facilitation of the intra-African trade and the Ethiopian delegation of women exporters, that are exhibiting their products at the Intra-African Trade Fair in Cairo, November 9-15, 2023. The delegation’s participation is generously sponsored by the GIZ AU AfCFTA Support Office, which CAWEE is very grateful on that..
Trade facilitation between Ethiopia, Egypt and Libya was also discussed, where the Embassy in Cairo has availed itself to facilitate Ethiopian trade with those countries where it is agreed to collaborate and jointly work on that in engaging other concerned potential partners like the Ministry of Trade & Regional Integration, Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce & Sectoral Associations and others.
CAWEE Organized Appreciation/Networking Event
Being part of the Mesirat Project, CAWEE organized appreciation/networking event for GPMs & potential GPMs to connect them with successful women entrepreneurs to learn from their business journey, their experiences & challenges, on Tuesday, October 3, 2023, at Radisson Blu Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where 42 participants (38 women & 4 men) took part.
Participants of the event were welcomed by Dr. Nigest Haile, Executive Director of CAWEE and Mrs. Helen Mulugeta, Projects Coordinator, provided general overview on the Mesirat project. Participants of the event had the opportunity to introduce themselves, their companies & their expectations.
At the event, panel discussion was organized where, Mrs. Dagmawit Abebe, Founder of Kedemt Coffee, Mrs. Dehab Mesfin, Founder of Diamond Coffee & Dehab Honey, Mrs. Samrawit Moges, Founder of Travel Ethiopia & Samore Flower and Ms. Samrawit Tarekegn, Founder of Mogzit were panelists. The panelists shared their business journey, the challenges they faced & how they were able to overcome those challenges in providing tips and advice to participants. During the brief plenary session, participants were able to ask questions, provide their opinions and refections.
CAWEE Took Part at UNGA Side Event in NY
The Executive Director of CAWEE Dr. Nigest Haile took part at a side event of the UN General Assembly in New York (NY), September 21, 2023, high-level call to action meeting, hosted by the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia to the United Nations, in collaboration with the UN Better Than Cash Alliance, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Generation Equality Forum, UN Capital Development Fund, Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, UN Women, Women’s World Banking, Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion Advocacy Hub and the World Bank Group.
This UNGA side event discussed the theme: Reaching Financial Equality for Women: Actions to Advance the SDGs, Leveraging Digital Finance Technologies. The event was officially opened with a keynote address delivered by H.E. Mr. Demeke Mekonnen, Deputy Prime Minister & Foreign Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE), where he highlighted the different efforts made so far & the Government’s continued initiatives, where he mentioned the establishment of Enat Bank and its services as one core component.
The panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Ruth Groen-Goodwin, Managing Director, United Nations Better Than Cash Alliance. Panelists were: Dr. Belete Molla, Minister of Innovation & Technology of the FDRE; Ms. Paula Ingabire, Minister of Information & Communications Technology & Innovation, Rwanda; Dr. Neil Cabiles, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Finance, Republic of the Philippines; Ms. Alicia Buenrostro, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations; Dr. Raden Siliwanti, Director for Multilateral Funding, Republic of Indonesia; Professor Ratna Sahay, National Council of Applied Economic Research, India and Ms. Edem Wosornu, Director, Operations and Advocacy, UN OCHA.
The high-level call meeting highlighted core issue areas of concern to take the agenda of women’s digital financial inclusion to the next level, with commitments highlighted by the panelists. The event was closed with remarks delivered by Mary Ellen, Women’s World Banking President and CEO and H.E. Tesfaye Yilma, Permanent Representative of the FDRE to the United Nations.
CAWEE organised the 3rd experience sharing event for the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) program on September 1, 2023, at Radisson Blu Hotel, Addis Ababa. The AWE program is financially and technically supported by the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State and the US Embassy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
During the event, panel discussion was organised where Dagmawit Abebe from Kedemt Coffee, Dr. Bethel Dereje from Wecare Digital Health, Nejat Ahmed from Qela Coffee and Dr. Blen Fekade from Lifeline Addis, all of them AWE training graduates, were speakers, they shared their amazing business journey, how they benefited from the AWE program and recommended areas of capacity building where CAWEE can be of continued help.
The event was concluded with a closing remark delivered by Mr. Stewart Davis, where he appreciated and encouraged each and every once that were AWE graduates.
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