International Forum on Women in Business

Laico Regency Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya, 14 December 2015

FOSTERING INNOVATION, INTERNATIONALIZATION AND SCALE OF WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES

The International Forum on Women in Business will be hosted by the Government of Kenya and the International Trade Centre (ITC), in conjunction with the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi. Policymakers, the business community and representatives of Women Business Organizations will convene to discuss policies and actions to increase the participation of women in trade.

What would happen if women were participating in the global economy at the same rate as their male counterparts? What are the private sector and governments doing to support inclusiveness and equality in business? Advancing women’s equality can add $12 trillion to global growth by 20251, and enable economies to unlock their full potential. The Forum looks to ensure that trade leads to sustainable development, resilience and inclusive growth. Technology as a tool to leverage, innovate, and scale SMEs will be a major theme of the day’s program.

The ITC-led ‘Call to Action’ to bring one million women to market by 2020 will feature in the discussions; a publication analyzing data on women exporters will be launched; and technology as an enabler of trade will be featured through a new application connecting women to markets developed by the Kenyan woman-owned company GreenBell Communications, the winner of the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum 2015 (WVEF) Tech Challenge.

If you want to know more about the event, please contact ITC’s Women and Trade team: womenandtrade@intracen.org

Programme

07:00–09:00	Registration and welcome coffee

09:00–09:30	Official Opening Ceremony H.E. Ms. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia H.E. Mr. William Samoei Ruto, Deputy President of Kenya And with Ms. Sahle-Work Zewde, Director General United Nations Office at Nairobi Mr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Mr. Yonov Frederick Agah, Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organization Ms. Arancha González, Executive Director, International Trade Centre *Launch of ITC publication: Unlocking Markets For Women To Trade*

09:30–11:00	Leveling the Playing Field H.E. Ms. Maxine McClean, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Barbados Mr. Markku Keinänen, Director General, External Economic Relations, Ministry for Foreign Trade and Development, Finland Ms. Diariétou Gaye, Country Director (Kenya, Rwanda, Eritrea, Uganda) World Bank Group Ms. Carole Kariuki, Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Private Sector Alliance Mr. Frank Matsaert, Chief Executive Officer, TradeMark East Africa Dr. Gülden Türktan, President W20, Official engagement group of the G20 Ms. Rosa Whitaker, Chief Executive Officer, Whitaker Group Moderator: Ms Bibi van der Zee, The Guardian

11:00–12:30	Innovating to Compete H.E. Mr. Morten Høglund, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway Ms. Juliana Rotich, Co-Founder, Ushahidi, Co-Founder, BRCK Ms. Rapelang Rabana, Founder / Chief Executive Officer, Rekindle Learning Ms. Ife Osaga-Ondondo, Legal Counsel, Sub Saharan Africa, Google Ms. Ally Angula, Group Managing Director, Leap Investments Ms. Nansalmaa Sanjmyatav, Director, Nans Cashmere Company Ms. Sneha Shah, Managing Director Africa, Thomson Reuters Moderator: Peninah Karibe, CCTV Africa

12:30–13:30	Lunch

13:30–15:00	Unlocking Markets H.E. Ms. Margaret Mwanakatwe, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Zambia Mr. Chris Barton, Director of International Affairs, Trade Policy & Export Control, United Kingdom Ms. Eva Walder, Director-General for Trade, Sweden Ms. Leila Janah, Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Sama Group Amb. Richard Sezibera, Secretary General, East African Community Ms. Susan Mboya-Kidero, President, Coca-Cola Africa Foundation Moderator: Peninah Karibe, CCTV Africa *Unveiling: The SheTrades App*

15:00–16:30	Presidential Conversation H.E. Ms. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia H.E. Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya And with H.E. Ms. Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Netherlands Mr. Jeremy Awori, Managing Director, Barclays Moderator: Ms. Arancha González, Executive Director, International Trade Centre

Partners

Media partners

Is life improving for women in Papua New Guinea ?

The most popular talk show in Papua New Guinea, Tanim Graun, discusses this question in a special edition as part of the United Nations’ 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.
The panel included Mr. Torek Farhadi, Senior Adviser for the ITC Women and Trade Programme. He argues that economic empowerment of women can help address domestic violence, sexual assault and discrimination in homes, communities and workplaces.

International Forum on Women in Business