Orange, UN Women Support Women’s Economic Empowerment in Africa

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

Orange and United Nations Women have teamed up to support women’s economic empowerment and rural farms’ resilience to disasters in West and Central Africa. It is an initiative to support women’s digital inclusion

In addition to the financial assistance given to the project to bolster these initiatives, Orange and the Orange

Foundation offered their unique technical expertise, their network and their existing infrastructure in digital skills, technologies and digital inclusion.

The project will also allow UN Women and its partners to build on results achieved so far through the ‘Buy from Women’ initiative, and its future developments in Liberia and Mali.

The Liberia project launch following a pilot project, which is the adaptation of the ‘Buy from Women’ platform to the local context and is almost complete, thanks to a first collaboration between the Orange Foundation and UN Women.

A statement issued by the UN Women last Wednesday revealed that “the two Orange Foundation Women’s Digital Centres (WDC) in Liberia train women, who are not familiar with new technologies, on the use of digital tools and platforms.”

It said specifically that women would learn in these centres how to use the ‘Buy from Women’ platform, following a pilot project with women’s cooperatives working in the cassava and cereal value chains. Over time, this initiative and its developments should help support 1,200 rural women across the country.

In Mali, the technical, financial and human resources deployed through this partnership will help expand the ‘Buy from Women’ offering and assist an additional 400 women.

The three components of the project, which will complement Orange and UN Women’s support in Liberia, include: “Digital to support the economic empowerment of women in rural areas with improved access to markets and educational opportunities thanks to the consolidation of the ‘Buy from Women’ initiative; a focus on the e-commerce platform as well as training, marketing and other activities.

“Digital to support women’s resilience to disasters in rural areas with improved risk coverage, weather forecasting and warnings as well as advice on how to adapt farming with the current climate change.

“Digital to improve women’s access to renewable energies in rural areas, supporting domestic and productive uses and their accessibility, including financing of Pay-As-You-Go solar systems (prepaid, payment for a short period of use among others.), and building women’s skills in the energy sector.

“Buy from Women’ is an innovative initiative implemented by UN Women in partnership with the public and private sectors, which aims to improve the digital inclusion of women living in rural areas. It does so by facilitating access to digital technology and new market opportunities, but also provides information, weather warnings and digital financial services. This initiative helps boost the productivity and income of businesses and farms run by women.

“The innovation is implemented in around 10 countries across the world, where the model is adapted to the needs and characteristics of each country, and has allowed 1,500 women in Mali to market and sell their products (Shea nuts, cereals, vegetables, jewelry and hygiene products in response to the COVID-19 pandemic), and to have access to online training,” he said.

Executive Director, CSR at Orange and Deputy Chair of the Orange Foundation, Elizabeth Tchoungui, explained that: “As the leading continent for female entrepreneurship and in the front line against the climate emergency, Africa’s resilience is an incentive to pursue the partnership between Orange and UN Women to improve conditions for women in rural areas with the help of digital tools.”

Executive Director, UN Women France, Fanny Benedetti, added: “Women’s economic empowerment is a crucial element for UN Women.  It is also more broadly a major driver of emancipation and a means of safeguarding women’s human rights. ‘Buy from Women’ is a flagship initiative that opens up a full range of possibilities for women living in rural areas who are often not familiar with technology, to support them in the driving role they can play in favour of sustainable development.”