International Women's Day

Happy international women's day to all the women across the globe. Like all other holidays, we must not only celebrate women today, but everyday. Women the world over continue to provide valuable contributions despite marginalization in many areas.

Below I am providing links to some organizations and/or initiatives focusing on women entrepreneurs in post conflict countries:

Founder for Women for Women International, Zainab Salbi and I

Information

"Rebuilding Nations Women Entrepreneurs in Post-Conflict Societies: Why women entrepreneurs are crucial for rebuilding post-conflict economies" by the International Finance Corporation.

Supporting Enterprise Development in Post-Conflict Environments - Blog by United States Agency for International Development

Women Entrepreneurs: The Key to Economic Development by The Women's Conference

News

International Women's Day - check this site out for more information on what is going on around the world

Saving the World's Women by NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF and SHERYL WuDUNN (August 19, 2009) for The New York Times.

Organizations

Women for Women International is doing great work all over the world

Business Council for Peace (Bpeace) is also doing great work in Afghanistan and Rwanda

I could go on and on, but with this post I just wanted to emphasize that women in post conflict countries play an especially critical role in rebuilding their homes, communities and countries at large. As such, it is essential that they get the support they need. Please support in any way you can. Your help will go a long way.

Women are making headways in microfinance, but I still question where women entrepreneurs in the small and medium enterprise space are? What about major corporations (both in post conflict and peaceful countries)? Even though strides are being made, there is still a lot to do. Women, our challenge is to do more and be more, not only in politics and business, but all sectors of society.

An increase in fragile states - Niger

The past few weeks have very eventful for the two African countries with closely spelled names, Niger and Nigeria. When news first broke about the coup in Niger, I was promptly misinformed of it. I proceeded to check the news on my phone only to be corrected (thank goodness because the prospect of a coup in Nigeria was scarier to me than a coup in Niger).

There has been a lot of talk in the past week about benevolent coups and their merit in restoring democracy. My take is as follows: if the people either by themselves or through the army do not feel they are being led in the manner in which they feel is best, then perhaps a benevolent coup is in order. Now don't get me wrong I am not advocating for the overhaul of governments when people are unhappy, but when the constitution and other legal safeguards have been violated then the people must ensure that their leadership follows the appropriate rules. After all, isn't democracy for the people, by the people, of the people?

What effect will Niger's government have on investment there? Most likely halt it until the army provides the world with a concrete plan on when democratic elections will be held and those plans are followed through. I have not heard of any investors leaving so that is a good sign.

I will definitely continue to keep my radar up for news from Niger.

Rwana Economic Development Forum

The first event of the year for Transitional Trade was the Rwanda Development Economic Forum in Washington DC January 20-21, 2010.

The Forum was set up to bring industry leaders from various industries to provide input on ways in that Rwanda can grow to become the ICT leader of Africa. Among those present were Dr. Jendayi Fraser (former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs- in the picture), Ambassador Andrew Young (in the picture), Ambassador John Simon, Ambassador Kimonyo (Rwanda to the United States), Michael Fairbanks (SEVEN fund) and others.

I commend the Rwandan government and Carnegie Mellon University for the initiative. The prospect of Rwanda as the main ICT hub in Africa is essential for many reasons, including but not limited to the decrease of the digital divide, the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship, a state of the art science and technology learning center to educate more Africans, the increase in highly skilled workers not only in ICT, but in the many supporting fields as well and the list goes on.

I also commend the participants for their honesty on what they saw as viable and not. Where there was a part for government to improve, the government representatives assured the group that the government will play its part to ensure that the Center of Excellence and Rwanda's goals are achieved. Even more than their thoughts, I commend the participants on their commitment to Rwanda and Africa's development at large.

For more news on the Forum, check out The New Times at US Varsity hosts Rwanda development forum.

2010 and the hope it brings

2009 was a great year in many respects. Transitional Trade finally got traction and continued over the year to fulfill its mission.

Awareness, awareness, awareness

A major goal for 2009 was awareness that post-conflict countries are viable investment destinations. The awareness campaign was done by means of conference speeches, publications and sponsorship of events. This is still an ongoing mission and we are working to find ways to increase the efficiency of what we are doing.

Mentoring

We have been able to mentor entrepreneurs from Sierra Leone, South Africa, the Congo and Uganda. This process was especially moving for me as an entrepreneur because I was able at many levels to connect with the entrepreneurs and the issues they were facing starting and growing their businesses. As we continue in 2010, I hope that their zeal and motivation to grow as entrepreneurs continues and that we can continue to motivate them.

Partnership

We established partnerships with several organizations such as the Rwanda Convention Association, Excel Scholars, Man Up, and become a charity on Leap Anywhere. We thank our partners for their continued support.

Our supporters

We are most appreciative of our supporters. Thank you for your suggestions, for your encouragement, support (financial and otherwise). Please keep it coming, we need it.

2010 - "The Year"

For 2010, we plan to continue doing what we are doing, but grow in all aspects of our work.