TEF CEO, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, Makes a Compelling Case for Youth Empowerment to the EDFI at the Finance in Common Summit
Lagos, Nigeria – November 12, 2020
At a high-level panel discussion organised by the European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI), Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu emphasised the need to focus on youth empowerment as a means of creating bilateral opportunities for Europe and African. She made the call at the Finance in Common online summit on Thursday, November 12, 2020, where she joined the conversation on Private sector financing in Africa with the theme “Africa: Towards a sustainable recovery for the private sector.”
Moderated by Bruno Wenn, Chairman, European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI) and TEF Advisory Board Member , the event marked the unveiling of the “Finance in Common” declaration by DFIs and the commitment of $4bn to African MSMEs before the end of 2021.
Other panelists include Koen Doens, Director General, International Cooperation & Development, European Commission; Diane Karusisi, Chief Executive Officer, Bank of Kigali; and Kola Masha, Managing Director and Cofounder, Babban Gona.
At the summit, Ifeyinwa highlighted the need for capacity building and capital for entrepreneurs and SMEs in Africa.
“With the Covid19 pandemic, MSMEs need support from public development banks more than ever,” she said.
“With an Entrepreneurship Programme like ours, we have the ability to reach thousands of entrepreneurs across the African continent. We have spent millions setting up a platform, TEFConnect, to ensure that entrepreneurs are screened, trained, mentored, and tested to determine their readiness to receive the seed capital and once they have done so, we go on to track their progress,” she continued.
Hosted by the European DFI (EDFI), the Finance in Common 2020 Summit is the first global meeting of all Public Development Banks providing opportunity to discuss some of the key challenges related to investing in complex environments.
