Women’s Economic ForuM kENYA -2024

Context

With women making up over half of Kenya’s population, their subpar representation in the national economic sphere is less than acceptable. Furthermore, women own and run more than 50 percent of all the informal businesses in Kenya making them invaluable economic drivers. This however, is not adequately quantified in the country’s GDP which speaks of their unrealized economic potential. Although there has been support for the empowerment of women which can be seen through different initiatives by the Government of Kenya both at National and County levels, there remain gaps making it difficult for women to participate effectively in the economic development of the Country.
The Women and Economy conference aims to shed light on these and other issues impacting women in Kenya’s economy and to become a long-term change agent towards the realization of the true economic potential of the nation’s women

 

The Problem

There are numerous challenges facing women in Kenya’s economy, including lack of financial power and or support, significant lack of business development knowledge, limited growth opportunities, systemic corruption and business attitudes; poor or no long term business planning, limited market access and value chain inclusion, detrimental cultural misconceptions about work and business; these and many more challenges have held businesswomen in Kenya back from achieving their true potential and playing a greater role in their families, local communities and the economy at large. The Women and Economy Conference sets its sights on these and other socio-economic challenges faced by Kenyan businesswomen and strives to break the mode of under-representation and inhibited growth.
A research Commissioned by the Community Advocacy and Awareness Trust-CRAWN Trust, on women and the economy, revealed that women especially those in the informal sector are continuously excluded in effective decision making and access to resources due to the informal nature of their engagements. Further, the entrenchment of gender inequality and women disempowerment can also be linked to broader institutional inefficiencies such as weak policy and institutional frameworks with not much attention being paid to practical gender needs. These are some of the issues that have contributed to the minimal achievements in the fight for gender equality and women empowerment.
The gaps between women and men on economic participation and political empowerment remain wide (World Economic Forum, 2016). Women in Kenya have been marginalized as far back as the pre-colonial era. The prevalence of a patriarchal system ensured that women were kept in the periphery not only from

the realms of the political sphere but also with regard to their effective participation in economic development (Amadi,2015)
Globally the COVID-19 pandemic has further aggravated the gender gap, as it has impacted on women more than it has on men, because women are more than men likely to have insecure jobs and also have to balance between productive or market activities including employment with unpaid care giving activities and home-schooling which have been aggravated by the pandemic. For Kenya in particular, COVID -19 containment measures undertaken by the government including lockout or stay away instructions, restricted movements, curfews, closure of schools, border closures contributed to job losses including in the informal sector (which employs a significant proportion of women) leading to a significant drop in labour force participation (KNBS, 2020). Based on World Bank data for 2019, labour force participation for Kenya was 75 percent, but this dropped to 56.8 percent during COVID-19 pandemic, with participation of men reducing to 65.3 percent while participation of women reduced to 48.8 percent (KNBS, 2020).
Goal

The Goal is to coordinate a forum which will be the first in the series of the Women and Economy conferences from the County to National Levels where women entrepreneurs, business communities, informal sector, and small scale farmers, will have a chance to co-create and participate in the effective development of the
Economic Eco-System Post COVID-19.

This goal is driven by an urgent need for true gender equality in the national economic engine, where women are represented, included and availed as much opportunity as men. Where young women can have business and entrepreneurship aspirations and be able to pursue and achieve their business development goals without fear of any barriers, thereby being able to play a bigger role in their families, local communities, county and country. Achieving this ideal will mean a more sustainable economy with plenty of opportunity for all Kenyans.

What the Conference Will Address

The Women and Economy Conference, is an initiative that originates from the crucial recognition that the women in Kenya’s economy have been economically marginalized. The forum purposes to be a crucial part of the long but worthwhile journey towards the reshaping of this paradigm and seeks to relentlessly pursue the goal of a truly inclusive economic engine to the very end. The forum aims to be the ground zero for the economic emancipation of Kenya’s women by connecting women to information, and financial opportunities for growth and impact aimed at building wealth for women from the bottom up.

Designed to be a premier networking occasion, the conference will serve as a forum to connect women to opportunities such as building skills, mentorship opportunities, market linkages, financial options and opportunities that will help the different cross-sections of women including and especially young women to connect, learn and grow.
The organizers believe that the attainment of this objective will not only lead to more economic opportunities across the board, but to substantial gains for the national economy as a whole.
The conference will also address some of the challenges highlighted by the research commissioned by CRAWN Trust which recognizes that gender inequality still remains a serious economic issue and the barriers continue to hold back the country from realizing women’s economic potential. The research findings have been used to develop a policy brief which will then be used to inform advocacy initiatives as well as to disseminate information to key stakeholders including duty bearers and will be released at the conference.
The Women and Economy conference will have both County based and National level engagements.

The Objectives

By developing a county based sub-conference the initiative will work at the selected County levels to:

1. Influence County economic policy.
2. Shape a more inclusive county level economic structure.
3. Give women voices within the economic sphere.

At the national level to:

1. Make recommendations to the national economic planning and policy making organs of government.
2. Engage with the National Treasury and Parliament who are some of the key players in the approvals of regulations and budget making
Key thematic areas for discussion at this year’s conference are:

1. Agribusiness;
2. Manufacturing and value chains;
3. MSME’s as potential engines of growth and Women’s enterprise;
4. Planning and budgeting for women’s economic inclusion,
5. Tax and policy regimens
6. Opportunities in technology and innovation,

7. Financial access and skills development.
8. Media-Shaping the narrative

Impact

It is anticipated that with the above application and objectives being achieved, it will contribute to visible reforms in the economy that will enable productivity and growth in Kenya’s GDP. The forum proposes to have a consistent solution and put mechanisms in place to see this to fruition.
The Women and Economy series is a platform that seeks to be a reliable partner and one that aims to harness better results. To this end, there will be Women and the Economy Conferences pre-meetings which will kick off with a series of county level sub-conferences starting with selected Counties with National Women’s Steering Committee (NWSC) members. The sub-conferences will serve as an arena to gain an understanding of the plight of businesswomen at the county grassroots level. The information gathered will then be compiled and analyzed to inform decision making on remediation. The county sub-conferences will then translate to the national level with the final two-day conference on the 24th and 25th of February 2021.
The national conference will feature talks and discussions from high ranking government officials, policy makers, industry leaders and champions of entrepreneurship, financial partners, civil society actors, women from the MSME sector, women in business, development partners, media, technology and academics from the African Women’s Studies Center’s Women’s Economic Empowerment hub and other academia professionals.
Target Audience

• Women Groups
• Women Saccos
• Women Leaders from various disciplines
• Drivers of Technology and Innovation
• Policy Makers
• Legislators
• Financial Institutions and many more

Conference Hosting

The Women and The Economy Conference will be hosted by Community Advocacy and Awareness Trust (CRAWN Trust) in partnership with New Revenue Solutions Africa (NRSA).