African women in diaspora launch investment club

Women from Africa working in the diaspora have launched an investment club to boost business.

Africa Women Investors (AWI) aims to give them a chance to invest in ventures of their choice which the group says have been lacking.

To lay strategy on their investment journey, last week, the women held the Africa Women and International Business and Investment Summit partnership in Nairobi.

This was the second summit after the inaugural one that was also held in Nairobi in December 2018.

Platform

AWI founder, Dr Agnes Odinga, said the summit was meant to create a platform within which the African women living and working in the diaspora can dialogue about investment.

Dr Odinga said women, known for their abilities in saving, have failed to do well in investment.

“AWI has come to offer a platform for women to invest. The summit will help African women make informed decisions on where to invest their money,” she said.

Dr Odinga, who works at Minnesota State University in the US, added that the modern African women is looking at moving away from the traditional ways of investment such as buying land to more modern investments with higher returns.

She said member are free to invest in countries where they are currently based.

In Africa, AWI members are drawn from Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Zambia.

Professional advice

“Through AWI, we want women to get professional advice on prudent management and investment of their money through professional organisations that are selected from different sectors before making any investment plans,” she said.

Immediate former Controller of Budget, Agnes Odhiambo, who was the guest speaker during the summit said there is need for women to be given the tools to realise their full potential in doing business.

Odhiambo said for women to be wealth creators, they have to be informed.

“There is need for better financial education in women and the enhancement of their financial inclusion in all aspect of finance,” she said.

Unequal opportunities

She added that fear, lack of drive, knowledge, resources and support from family was behind the existing unequal opportunities between women and men in accessing finance.

The former controller f budget said statistics show that few women have knowledge in sophisticated business and wealth management strategies.

“Current statistics raises concerns as they indicate that there are very few women investing at Nairobi Securities Exchange, private equity and venture capital,” Ms Odhiambo said.

She added women economic empowerment in the country is critical since it has high divided to the society.

Immediate former Capital Markets Authority boss Mr Paul Muthaura said women were still lagging behind in investing in capital markets.

Top Image CEO Ms Jennifer Barasa urged women to remain results-orient if they wanted to reap big from their business ventures.

“You have to be resilient, leave nothing to chance and be result oriented. You also have to know well the business you are working or venturing in to,” she said.