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Africa becoming the gender hub for gender mainstreaming success

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3 years ago

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gender mainstreaming

Business Engage developed the Gender Mainstreaming Awards to encourage and motivate private corporates to buy into achieving more meaningful representation of women in the mainstream of business

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, April 11, 2023/APO Group/ — 

Over the years, the Gender Mainstreaming Awards have proven to be a powerful indicator of the strides made to create more gender-balanced corporate entities. Business Engage (www.BusinessEngage.Africa) developed the Gender Mainstreaming Awards to encourage and motivate private corporates to buy into achieving more meaningful representation of women in the mainstream of business as a strategic imperative. Individuals are also recognised for their role in the gender mainstreaming journey.

The awards are hosted annually to reward corporates and individuals for the change they ensure on the ground in terms of gender mainstreaming. The winners and finalists have continued to show remarkable commitments to gender parity. However, more must be done to ensure that issues around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging do not become a tick-box requirement but are inculcated into the culture of African public and private spaces.

“To drive change, organisations need to refocus their environments to support the development of women alongside their male counterparts – as equals. Both women and men must become agents of gender equality within their workplaces and spheres of influence. Each business leader must become a champion for change, supporting women’s advancement into leadership positions by recognising and promoting capable women where it is due.”

“We are proud to be the naming sponsor of the Accenture 2023 GMA Awards as these awards celebrate the fundamental principle of gender equality that Accenture regards as our normal way of doing business.” – Khethiwe Nkuna, CSI and Responsible Business lead for Accenture in Africa.                          

Welcome to the 2023 Accenture Gender Mainstreaming Awards, an initiative of Business Engage, a platform that publicly recognises good practices and excellence in diversity with its emphasis on Gender Mainstreaming.

“Transformation is always at the helm of our agenda; hence we are deliberate in our efforts to appoint women in strategic positions and contribute to a society that supports and embraces the empowerment of its women.”

Assupol is proud to be involved in the 2023 Gender Mainstreaming Awards. As leaders in our industry, we take the responsibility to lead by example very seriously. – Bridget Mokwena-Halala, Assupol CEO.

Business Engage, and all of the sponsors invite you to celebrate gender mainstreaming by nominating individuals and corporates to celebrate our 11th Gender Mainstreaming Awards on 5 October 2023. Entries are open for nominations from corporates and individuals for the various categories to fit the level of diversity that your company is currently at. For more information on the Gender Mainstreaming Awards, visit www.GenderAwards.com. 

“Our partnership with the Gender Mainstreaming Awards aligns closely with our continuous drive for gender diversity, gender equality and women empowerment in the workplace – ensuring that as a business and individuals, we hold ourselves accountable to being the change we want to see. We have a long-standing history with Business Engage and have felt the significant impact that these Awards bring to businesses and people. We look forward to this year’s entries and the continued commitment by corporate South Africa to driving and supporting women empowerment.” – Esha Mansingh, Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations at Imperial, a DP World Company.

“As the JSE, we recognise and understand that gender equality is both a moral imperative and important driver of financial inclusion in South Africa. It is for this reason that we support the Gender Mainstreaming Awards, as they are a vehicle for recognising organisations that are making meaningful contribution to the progression of women in their businesses and communities. In our organisation, 64% of our board of directors and 80% of our executive members are women.” – Vuyo Lee, Director: Marketing and Corporate Affairs at the JSE.

“We are proud of this achievement and our participation in the awards, and hope this serves as a catalyst for more companies to focus on gender mainstreaming in our economy.”

The Awards have been expanded into Africa for individuals and corporates in East and West Africa. The 10th Gender Mainstreaming Awards in 2022 comprised very successful simultaneous in-person events with 500 attendees in Gauteng, South Africa, 300 in Nairobi, Kenya and 100 in Accra, Ghana. The event was also streamed online, hosting 6800 attendees from across Africa. Including the entire Africa in the Gender Mainstreaming Awards intends to make Africa the gender hub from which we export stories of success to the rest of the world rather than constantly importing reports of gender equality.

“Our longstanding relationship with the Business Engage and the Gender Mainstreaming awards is an attestation to our commitment to a more gender equal future. We continuously work towards creating an environment where women feel they are empowered to achieve their individual career goals and are committed to growing the number of women in leadership in financial services.” – Dharshni Padayachee, RMB.

Currently, there are twelve private sector categories for corporates and individuals to enter:

Corporates Awards

To drive change, organisations need to refocus their environments to support the development of women alongside their male counterparts – as equals

Women on boards

Women on Executive Committees in Multinationals

Women’s Empowerment in the Workplace

Mainstreaming Gender and Disability Awards

Economic Empowerment Award

Equal Representation and Participation Awards

Investing in Young Women

Empowerment of Women in the Community

Gender Reporting of JSE-Listed companies (nomination category – no entries accepted)

“As AECI, our commitment to gender equality remains a key ESG imperative and is embedded in our ‘One AECI for a better world purpose’. “A better world is inclusive for everybody, and this includes the communities around our operations”. Gender Mainstreaming Champion, Southern Africa 2022. AECI Group Manager: Diversity and Inclusion, Nina Ngidi.

Individual Awards

Positive Role Model

Inclusive Leader Award

RMB African’s Fearless Thinker Award

“Our longstanding relationship with the Business Engage and the Gender Mainstreaming awards is an attestation to our commitment to a more gender equal future. We continuously work towards creating an environment where women feel they are empowered to achieve their individual career goals and are committed to growing the number of women in leadership in financial services.” – Dharshni Padayachee, RMB.

Corporates and individuals should note that all entries are submitted online with supporting documentation under the Enrolment Form tab on https://Gender-Mainstreaming.Awardsplatform.com. We have entries for East Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa. It is a condition of entry that finalists attend the Gender Mainstreaming Awards.

The deadline for Entries is 31 May 2023. The semi-final event for individual categories in Southern Africa will follow on 28 July 2023. The judges will interview all shortlisted companies and individuals from 4 July 2023 – 28 July 2023, and finalists will be announced by 2 August 2023.

“We believe the best way to influence change is to strengthen and grow the current conversation, then couple that with deliberate actions.” – Colleen Larsen, Business Engage.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Business Engage

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Hainan FTP marks 6-month milestone of special customs operations, signs deals during Hong Kong visit

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5 hours ago

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June 30, 2026

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Hong Kong

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 June 2026 – As the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) marked the six-month milestone since the launch of its full special customs operations, a Hainan provincial delegation wrapped up a three-day visit to Hong Kong. During the visit, the delegation signed deepened cooperation agreements with several major local chambers of commerce and promoted the latest policies introduced since the island-wide special customs operations took effect.

According to data released by Hainan Province during the visit, Hainan’s foreign trade has surged since the launch of special customs operations. As of June 17, the province’s total goods imports and exports reached RMB 173.98 billion (approximately US$24 billion), up 54.6% year on year. Imports of zero-tariff goods hit RMB 2.645 billion, a 120% jump that generated tariff savings of RMB 440 million. A total of 172,100 new market entities were registered—a 61% increase—including 1,240 foreign-invested enterprises. Zero-tariff items now account for 74% of all tariff lines, benefiting more than 12,000 market entities.

During the Hong Kong visit, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Hainan Provincial Committee (CCPIT Hainan) signed separate deepened cooperation MOUs with the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. Under the MOUs, the parties will establish a regular liaison mechanism for the periodic exchange of economic and trade information, and will promote collaboration in areas including professional services, green finance, the digital economy, supply chain management, and cultural tourism. Mutual enterprise service desks will be set up to provide consulting services regarding policies and projects. The parties will leverage their complementary strengths to help Chinese mainland enterprises access overseas markets via Hong Kong, while facilitating Hong Kong companies’ entry into the Chinese mainland through Hainan.

The delegation also held talks with the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, exploring ways for British and American businesses to leverage Hainan’s value-added processing tariff exemptions and multifunctional free trade accounts to position themselves in regional supply chains and cross-border investment and financing. HSBC, De Beers, and other British firms are already active in Hainan, and the UK served as the Guest of Honor country at the 2025 China International Consumer Products Expo.

According to industry analysts, amid the shifting international trade landscape, Hainan is leveraging Hong Kong’s “super-connector” role to accelerate its integration with global capital and business networks, while simultaneously offering the Hong Kong business community a policy testing ground for entering the Chinese mainland market.

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Africa’s Grid Constraints Come into Focus as Regional Markets Push Toward Integration

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4 days ago

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June 26, 2026

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Africa

Regional power pools are advancing and renewable pipelines are growing, but the regulatory and financial architecture needed to connect them remains the continent’s most critical infrastructure gap – an issue central to the Power Africa Today conference at AEW 2026

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 25, 2026/APO Group/ –Africa’s electricity demand is projected to nearly double to 2,291 TWh by 2050, requiring an estimated $30 billion in transmission and grid infrastructure investment to unlock and integrate new generation capacity. Yet across the continent, grid systems are struggling to keep pace with rapidly expanding supply pipelines and rising demand.

In Nigeria, repeated nationwide grid collapses as recently as February 2026 underscore the fragility of aging transmission infrastructure. In East Africa, tower failures along the 428 km Loiyangalani-Suswa line temporarily stranded output from Lake Turkana Wind Power – Africa’s largest wind installation. Meanwhile, demand growth pressures are accelerating across North Africa, where electricity consumption is expected to rise by around 50% by 2035, driven by urbanization, desalination projects, and climate-related temperature increases.

Despite these constraints, generation investment continues to accelerate across Africa, particularly in renewables, gas-to-power and hybrid systems. However, without equivalent investment in transmission and interconnection, much of this new capacity risks being underutilized or stranded. This growing imbalance between generation and grid capacity is driving a sharper focus on system-wide planning and regional market design – issues that will be central to the newly launched Power Africa Today conference at African Energy Week 2026. The platform will bring together policymakers, utilities, investors and developers to explore how regional interconnection, cross-border trading frameworks and financing structures can better align generation growth with grid expansion.

Power Markets Experiment with Reform

Alongside infrastructure challenges, Africa’s electricity sector is undergoing gradual – but uneven – market reform. Most countries still operate vertically integrated systems dominated by state utilities, but a growing number are introducing competitive frameworks to attract private capital and improve efficiency.

Zimbabwe opened its electricity market to full private participation across generation, transmission and distribution in 2025, targeting $9 billion in new investment. South Africa is advancing one of the continent’s most ambitious grid expansion programs, with plans for 14,500 km of new transmission lines and 133,000 MVA of transformer capacity by 2034, alongside mechanisms designed to crowd in private financing. Kenya, meanwhile, has introduced open access regulations enabling independent power producers to wheel electricity directly to multiple off-takers, reshaping how generation assets interface with the grid.

Interconnected electricity markets are the foundation of Africa’s industrial future

Regional Integration Remains Fragmented

Efforts to connect Africa’s fragmented power systems are progressing, though at different speeds across regions. In Southern Africa, the World Bank’s RETRADE SAPP program, approved in 2025, is deploying $12 million to strengthen renewable integration and transmission capacity across 12 member states. In East Africa, the Ethiopia–Kenya–Tanzania Electricity Highway is now in trial operations at up to 2,000 MW, marking a significant step toward a more interconnected regional grid.

West Africa is also moving toward deeper integration, with permanent synchronization of the West Africa Power Pool expected in 2026. Analysts, including the African Finance Corporation, argue that such synchronization is critical to unlocking large-scale hydropower potential and industrial demand across the region. Longer term, full synchronization between the Eastern and Southern African power pools – targeted for the end of 2026 – could create one of the world’s largest cross-border electricity trading corridors.

Building Bankable Financial Architectures

While interconnection is advancing, infrastructure alone is not enough to create investable electricity markets. Investors consistently cite the lack of standardized offtake structures, creditworthy counterparties, and cross-border payment guarantees as key barriers to scaling capital deployment.

New models are emerging to address these constraints. Africa GreenCo, operating across Zambia, Namibia and South Africa, is helping to aggregate independent power producers under a single creditworthy intermediary, standardizing power purchase agreements and reducing counterparty risk. At a broader level, AUDA-NEPAD estimates that Africa requires around $30 billion in additional investment to complete priority transmission corridors and establish three fully interconnected regional trading blocs by 2030.

“Interconnected electricity markets are the foundation of Africa’s industrial future,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “The question at Africa Energy Week is not whether integration is possible – the evidence is already there. The question is which regulatory frameworks and financial structures will get projects to financial close, and which markets will be ready when capital is looking to move.”

The Power Africa Today conference will run alongside AEW 2026, taking place October 12–16 in Cape Town, and will focus on the regulatory, financial and infrastructural architecture needed to build interconnected electricity markets capable of attracting institutional capital and delivering reliable, cross-border power at scale.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

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African Development Bank Group and La Francophonie Sign Partnership Agreement to Promote Youth Employment in Francophone Africa

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4 days ago

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June 26, 2026

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The agreement was signed during a meeting between the Secretary General of La Francophonie, Louise Mushikiwabo, and African Development Bank Group President, Dr Sidi Ould Tah in Paris, France

PARIS, France, June 25, 2026/APO Group/ –The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) and The International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) on Wednesday entered a strategic partnership to strengthen digital skills, employability, and entrepreneurship of young people and women in five African countries: Benin, Cameroon, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madagascar.

 

The agreement was signed during a meeting between the Secretary General of La Francophonie, Louise Mushikiwabo, and African Development Bank Group President, Dr Sidi Ould Tah in Paris, France. The agreement will address a major challenge faced by countries in the Francophone world and across Africa: providing young people with access to opportunities offered by the digital economy and fostering the emergence of a new generation of entrepreneurs.

The partnership calls for the implementation of training programs in digital professions and entrepreneurship, in fields such as web and mobile development, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and data analysis. Participants will also receive guidance toward employment and self-employment, as well as support for innovation and business creation, notably through training camps, prototyping activities, and partnerships with incubators and accelerators.

The African Development Bank Group and OIF will also work with national authorities in these five countries and training institutions to sustainably strengthen local capacities and promote ownership of the programs by national stakeholders. An initial pilot phase, lasting 12 to 24 months, will be rolled out in the five partner countries, followed by a gradual expansion to other member states depending on the results achieved.

The African Development Bank Group is pursuing a bold agenda based on “Four Cardinal Points” developed by Dr Ould Tah, the third of which is ‘Turning Demographics into a Dividend.’ This is about strategically converting Africa’s rapidly growing and youthful population into a decisive engine of inclusive growth, productivity, and innovation through large-scale investment in human capital—particularly youth and women.

 

It sees Africa’s growing young population not as a risk, but as a major asset. With the right policies and investments, this potential can create jobs, help small businesses grow, bring more informal businesses into the formal economy, and equip young people with the skills needed for the future. By investing more in education, science and technology, vocational training, entrepreneurship, finance, and digital tools, Africa can help its people drive economic transformation, stay competitive, and build lasting, resilient growth.

The OIF said the agreement marked the first concrete step in its initiative to mobilize innovative and additional funding for its most impactful projects.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

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