African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program

The program was first established at the 2010 African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum by the U.S. Department of State, and it initially brought women entrepreneurs to the United States through the International Visitor’s Leadership Program (IVLP) for capacity building and professional development workshops.  The workshops provided information on a series of topics such as U.S. business practices and access to U.S. markets under AGOA. Upon return to their respective countries, AWEP participants launched AWEP chapters in 44 African countries, many of which are still active today, and serve as business associations and networking hubs. 

During the 2022 Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington, DC, Vice President Kamala Harris announced the relaunch of AWEP with new programmatic features.  AWEP’s relaunch supports the expansion and export capability of women-led businesses in Africa by bolstering access to capital and markets and skills and capacity building. The program promotes women’s leadership throughout the continent. It focuses on connecting an inclusive membership and empowering AWEP women through local trainings and workshops in Africa. As part of a partnership between the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. African Development Foundation, AWEP also provides grants to established women-owned SMEs and works to connect African women entrepreneurs with American buyers and diaspora-owned businesses. These advancements equip African businesswomen with the tools and opportunities to grow their businesses, serve as community leaders, and drive social and economic progress on the continent. AWEP’s relaunch empowers African women entrepreneurs on the ground to increase their participation in international trade. 

In 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration issued the first-ever National Gender Strategy (NGS)  to underscore the U.S. government’s commitment to advancing the rights and opportunities of women and girls in all their diversity, both in the United States and around the world. Nested under the NGS is the U.S. strategy on global Women’s Economic Security (WES). Launched by the State Department in January 2023, the WES Strategy provides high-level guidance to U.S. Government Departments and Agencies on advancing women’s economic security globally.  It informs U.S. foreign policy, international programming and development assistance, trade policy and promotion, and private sector development to further the global economic priorities outlined in the NGS, including improving economic security and accelerating economic growth among other priorities. AWEP is an essential feature U.S.-Africa gender priorities under both the NGS and the WES strategy.  

According to a 2019 World Bank report, despite comprising over 50 percent of Africa’s population and 60 percent of Africa’s Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) owners, women on the continent generate 34 percent less profit than their male counterparts.  Women entrepreneurs in Africa and around the world also fall behind in exporting their goods, with an International Trade Centre survey finding that only 20 percent of exporting companies world-wide are women-owned or women-led.  Increasing the growth, profitability and export readiness of African women-owned businesses is key to unlocking sustainable and inclusive economic growth on the continent. 

These advancements elevate U.S. Government support for women, youth, and the diaspora for U.S.-Africa trade and intra-Africa trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area AfCFTA.  

AWEP’s relaunch will also partner with the private sector to provide trainings that drive profitability and exports, both to the United States and within Africa under the AfCFTA.  AWEP has partnered with ExxonMobil, the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Vital Voices, and Intel on follow-on trainings with alumnae post-IVLP.