Benin music diva, Angelique Kidjo has succeeded in securing the princely sum of $251 million for budding female entrepreneurs in the continent of Africa.
Kidjo pulled the feat at the ongoing G7 Summit taking place in the French resort in Biarritz, where she convinced leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK to part with the sum.
According to her, the funding is about helping women into business and then helping them grow their businesses.
Speaking in her capacity as the ambassador of the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa, an agency of the African Development Bank, Kidjo said the priority is for small-scale entrepreneurs in Africa to get access to the funds.
She said; “My primary focus is women in the rural areas, the women of the market and the women who are not easy to reach out to… Women of the markets don’t trust banks because they are not welcome in any banks.”
According to a report by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2016/17 Women’s Report, Africa has the highest percentage of female entrepreneurs in the world, meaning one in four women start or manage their own business at a point in time.