Global Africa Business Club is a private network club made up of 1% crowd who trade in-country, regionally and overseas. Our philosophy is embedded in the pan-African globalisation. At the heart of pan-Africanism is strengthening the bonds between all people of African descendent. In Southern Africa we call this “Ubuntu.” Globalisation is an process of integration between people, companies and government worldwide. By combining both the process and ideology GABC seeks to strengthen all African people, all African governments and all African businesses through a process of commercial integration that transcends all regional and international borders through collaborative efforts with key stakeholders entrusted to the development of realizing Africa’s potential. GABC has identified three strategic focus areas that are our channels of this initiative:
- Women Affairs
- Global Youth Development
- Charitable Giving: Orphans and Vulnerable Children
On the 27thSeptember GABC launched in South Africa its Head Quarters after operating in the UK for 14 years representing African Diasporas living in the UK. I accepted the invitation to represent the organization as the Director of Women Affairs. I gave a 10-minute introductory about Women Affairs and quoted the following:
“…to be truly empowered, women must develop their power base, advocate for reform, and exert their own leadership to change their operating environment politically, culturally, and economically.” – The Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE).
Note that empowerment is gender neutral. That means, building (1) a power base, (2) advocating for reform, and (3) using one platform of leadership to change operating environments in political; cultural and economic systems is in essence the empowerment personified and manifested in both genders: men & women.
We all know the role of women in an inclusive system. We have seen the stats and many evidence-based reports that speak of how Women continue to remain an untapped resource needed to strengthen governance and economic prosperity, despite the needle moving positively towards more woman who can hold office and run multi-dollar billion enterprises. What is the problem? The problems often are institutional legacies inherit in political and cultural systems. Women across the sub-Sahara continue to face formal legal barriers related to ownership of property, registration of businesses and access to commercial loans. This has implications on their ability to participate in both a market and non-market economy. As a response to this crisis GABC serves to be a voice of African business community bring together business from all backgrounds, including women in business, women in corporates, women in government and facilitate private sector participation in transparent policy debate advocating for reform to create a more inclusive economy. What is unique about GABC is that unlike other organizations that are male-dominated and often under represent the importance of advocating policy solutions to promote women in the economy, GABC supports private sector organizations that better represent the needs of women in business in the policy-making process and become advocates of reform.
On the 20thNovember 2018, GABC will be hosting a roundtable discussion to help private sector organizations in countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya focus more strategically on recruiting and representing female members, both through internal reforms and engagement with decision-makers and other stakeholders. Combining the historical expertise of GABC engagement with business leaders and regional representatives of policy makers, this roundtable is aiming to help build the capacity of regional business associations to better engage women in policymaking process and promote inclusive growth. Building political systems that deliver is at the core of strengthening political reforms on the continent and around the world, creating sustainable development. By supporting enterprises, private sector and associations to be more inclusive of women and address the political and economic aspirations of women, GABC is strengthening socio-economic systems and assist women and the families they support become advocates of reform in their communities.
