Cote d’Ivoire Ministry of Trade, Industry and Promotions of SMEs is joining hands with Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) and WIEF Businesswomen Network (WBN) to empower women entrepreneurs
Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, April 15, 2019 : Within the framework of their joint programme of assistance to OIC countries, WIEF Businesswomen Network (WBN), the Islamic Center for Development of Trade (ICDT) and Côte d’Ivoire Ministry of Trade, Industry and Promotions of SMEs are co-organising the 7th WIEF Regional Online Marketing Workshop in Abidjan from 15th to 18th April 2019.
The workshop is designed to assist women entrepreneurs to expand their businesses online. It will bring together over 30 women entrepreneurs from micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Côte d’Ivoire.
Entrepreneurs can benefit from this workshop by learning ways to grow their businesses in a creative and innovative way. The current technological era drives a new phase of globalisation. It is important for entrepreneurs to improve their skills and knowledge in meeting the challenges as well as opportunities of this new digital economy.
WBN is an initiative of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation. It has the objective to unleash women’s potential through economic activities. Since 2012, WBN has conducted a series of Online Marketing Workshop and built a network of women entrepreneurs from all over the world. WBN offers women a platform to gain essential knowledge and skills to harness the power of digital commerce.
Online marketing is one of the most affordable and effective ways to promote products as well as services compared to traditional marketing. With the right strategy and knowledge, online marketing enables businesses a wider outreach. Online marketing has many benefits and has become one of the most popular tools for businesses to be ahead of their competition.
During the Workshop, participants will familiarise with the following key areas: web presence and website development; internet marketing and search engine optimisation techniques; social media marketing tools and strategies; online business productivity tools; online monitoring tools.
ICDT has co-organised with WBN similar workshops in Morocco in February 2014, Jordan in April 2016 and Guinea in April 2017. Nearly 300 women entrepreneurs from more than 20 OIC countries have already benefited from the workshops.
In Africa, women make up half of the population and produce 62% of economic goods, but only 8.5% are salaried[1]. Africa has become, in a few years, the first continent of female entrepreneurship[2]. 27% women are creating a business in Africa, the highest rate in the world[3]
According to Roland Berger report[4], African women is unique as they end up creating a different form of innovation: they demonstrate creativity by crating their own job and trying to bring solution to complex, unaddressed issues. Through their activities, they contribute to the continent’s development and prove Africa’s potential for innovation.
About the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation
The WIEF Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation based in Kuala Lumpur, organises the annual World Islamic Economic Forum, a world-class business platform showcasing business opportunities in the Muslim world, and runs programmes of the various initiatives of the Foundation that strengthen people partnership and knowledge exchange between Muslim and non-Muslim communities across the globe. The WIEF has previously held forums in Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Kuwait, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates and aims to bring together Muslim and non-Muslim communities through the common language of business. For more information on the WIEF Foundation, please visit www.wief.org.
About the WIEF Businesswomen Network (WBN)
The idea of the WIEF Businesswomen Network (WBN) was mooted at the inaugural World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) in 2005 which stems from the premise that women constitute a very important segment of the society and thus must be given due recognition for their economic contribution to the Muslim world. A year later, WBN was established with a mission to empower women, optimising their potential through economic and business activities and programmes. The WBN also provides a networking berth for women entrepreneurs across the world, especially in Muslim countries and societies, thus creating valuable international linkages between businesswomen in both the Muslim and non-Muslim world, as well as widening their market reach. For more information, please visit https://wbn.wief.org/
About the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT)
ICDT is the subsidiary organ of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which has been entrusted with Trade and Investment Promotion among the OIC Member States. ICDT’s activities revolve around the following key areas: Trade promotion; Trade information; Investment promotion; Studies & research; Training; International Trade negotiations. The implementation of the Ten Year Programme of Action (TYPOA) by ICDT and other OIC Institutions under the guidance of the OIC General Secretariat has successfully contributed to the growth in the volume of Trade of the OIC Member States which increased from USD 1.77 trillion in 2005 to USD 3.43 trillion in 2015. ICDT is today geared towards the increasing of business among the 57 OIC Member States. Muslim communities worldwide from Suriname and Guyana as well as OIC member countries including Indonesia and Malaysia have taken a larger role in the ICDT’s programmes. In the coming future, ICDT aims to enhance its activities with a view to achieving the objectives of the OIC Ten Year Program of Action (TYPOA) 2016-2025 in the economic field in particular, which targets, inter alia, increasing intra-OIC Trade to 25% by 2025. For more information, please visit: www.icdt-oic.org
For more information, please contact:
- Mr Tarek Merri, ICDT, icdt@icdt-oic.org
- Soo Hoo Siew Kheng, WIEF Foundation, siewkheng@wief.org
- Marie Theresa Okuobo, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Promotions of SMEs (Secrétariat d’Etat Chargé de la Promotion des PME), cspseppme@gmail.com
[1] https://wia-initiative.com/
[2] Source: GEM women entrepreneurship report 2017
[3] Source: GEM women entrepreneurship report 2017
[4] Roland Burger Report : Women in Africa Entrepreneurship Study