Belgium rewards female entrepreneurship in Africa and the Middle East

On 26 January 2023, 4 young female entrepreneurs received the Awa Prize from the hands of H.R.H. Mathilde and Minister for Development Cooperation Gennez. With the award, Belgium is aiming to encourage more women to become entrepreneurs and make those around them aware of the added value of this entrepreneurship.

Female entrepreneurship is a key lever for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is why the Belgian development agency Enabel – at the initiative of the Minister for Development Cooperation – created the Awa Prize.

The award highlights 4 promising female entrepreneurs from Africa and the Middle East. In this way Belgium aims to show women and men that entrepreneurship can be synonymous with social success, personal development and positive effects on the community – without upsetting the family balance.

Women often find more obstacles on their path to entrepreneurship than men. In some countries, women are not even allowed to open a bank account or start a business without their husband's permission. Consequently, more than 60% of women in Africa and the Middle East do not have bank accounts. Some communities do not accept women becoming entrepreneurs. All sorts of social norms can discourage women from starting a business.

And this is extremely detrimental to society. Because if a woman can establish her own business, she will generate additional income for her household and strengthen her position within the family. Moreover, she will reinvest 90% of her income to benefit the family circle, the local community and ultimately society as a whole. Incidentally, in countries where waged labour is scarce, entrepreneurship often provides the main outlet for women and men to scrape together an income.

The four laureates of the very first Awa Prize had already succeeded in becoming successful female entrepreneurs. None other than Her Majesty Queen Mathilde – also an SDG advocate for the UN – presented the award on 26 January 2023, along with Minister for Development Cooperation Caroline Gennez.

The laureates work in a variety of industries:

• Kathia Iradukunda (Burundi) – ‘People’s Choice’ Award
  
  This 26-year-old entrepreneur has a passion for environmental protection and entrepreneurship. Her company, Hyacinth Art House, harvests proliferating water hyacinths – an invasive pest plant – from Lake Tanganyika and turns them into art products such as tablecloths, baskets, carpets and desk items.
  
  In less than 2 years, Hyacinth Art House has removed more than 5 tons of water hyacinths and trained 100 women in weaving techniques.

• Aminata Simpara (Mali) – 'Start-up' Award
  
  Aminata Simpara's company N'terini has been producing washable and thus reusable sanitary pads since 2021. In doing so, it is aiming to provide an economical and ecological solution to 'menstrual poverty'. Many young women cannot afford sanitary pads and therefore stay home from school or work during the menstrual period.
  
  N'terini also conducts numerous awareness campaigns to make women more confident and independent. In less than 2 years, N'terini has already reached 5,000 users and created 6 jobs.

• Credia Umuhire Ruzigana (Rwanda) – 'Scale-up' Award
  
  Imanzi Creations – 25-year-old Credia Umuhire Ruzigana's company – has been offering novels, comics and board games for children since 2019. With some exciting stories and fairy tales from Rwanda's rich cultural history, she is aiming to promote literacy. After all, there are few libraries and publishing houses in Rwanda, and reading is not a common hobby there.
  
  In less than 3 years, Imanzi Creations has published 5 books, 2 games and 2 graphic novels.

• Rim Machhour (Morocco) – 'Innovation' Award
  
  26-year-old Rim Machhour is the founder of Dealkhir.ma, an innovative solidarity e-commerce project. People who make online purchases are given the opportunity to donate to community solidarity projects through the Dealkhir platform. And completely free thanks to strong partnerships with companies. 
  
  In less than 2 years, Dealkhir.ma has already offered 60 deals, with more than 20 partners, benefitting 8 social projects.

Awa Prize laureates receive professional mentoring for a week in Belgium, with networking opportunities and personal capacity development. Back home, they enjoy a year of professional mentoring to further grow their business.

The Awa Prize will be awarded annually from 2023 to 2026. 16 countries are eligible: the 14 partner countries of the Belgian Development Cooperation + Mauritania and Jordan. A budget of about 3.2 million euros has been provided. For the first-ever Awa Prize, Enabel received more than 2,400 entries.