5 April 2018 (Lilongwe, Malawi) – The Malawi chapter of Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW) was launched on the 3rd of April 2018 at the British High Commission Residence in Lilongwe. The event was hosted by DFID, Dzuka Africa, Belle Afrique and Mzuzu Entrepreneurs Hub as partners.
Participants at the CBW Malawi Chapter Launch
CBW Malawi brought together around 100 women in business and various organizations that are vested in supporting women in business to engage with the private sector, governments, media and other stakeholders to champion the cause of women entrepreneurship at a local, national, regional and international level, as well as to drive trade and good entrepreneurship practice and education across all 53 Commonwealth countries.
It makes much more economic sense to trade within the Commonwealth. It is what is called the ‘Commonwealth Advantage’ said British High Commissioner, Her Excellency Holly Tett. “It is very exciting to see the Commonwealth Businesswomen Malawi chapter being formed, which has a dedicated leadership that is hungry to support women and help them grow their businesses for the country’s prosperity. As well as doing trade within and across borders, the network will give women a voice with policymakers to ensure that women entrepreneurship has a better environment and greater practices.”
Dineo Mkwezalamba, CBW Malawi director, highlighted that CBW Malawi has launched the chapter with a focus on 21 sectors, aiming to economically empower 441 women focusing on trade, training and talent in the first year. “CBW Malawi will be working with the rest of the Commonwealth countries across the globe with a big focus to tap into Africa’s vast resource pool and through our initiatives, we will create access to information, markets and finance with partnerships across all Commonwealth countries“, she said.
Commonwealth Businesswomen Africa will leverage opportunities for integration across Africa, which will include market integration, infrastructure (transport, communications, energy networks), transformation via service sectors, intra-regional trade in food and manufacturing and informal trade.
Hon Jean Kalilani, Minister of Gender, commented on the launch of CBW Malawi: “This is a great move that will empower women through economic collaboration and through our ministry we will work hand in hand to support women economically through CBW Malawi’s initiatives.”
The network will link and support women entrepreneurs as they aim to contribute at the heart of national development and is geared towards TRADE, TALENT and TRAINING. The connections will help drive trade and employment, and build regional cohesion, in direct alignment with Sustainable Development Goals:
Gender Equality;
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all; and
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development.
The executive committee comprises of the following:
– Wangiwe Joanna Kambuzi (Director of CBW Malawi, Co-Founder of Mzuzu Entrepreneur Hub)
– Dineo Mkwezalamba (Director of CBW Malawi, Founder of Dzuka Africa)
– Lee Chisale (Director of CBW Malawi, Managing Director of Belle Afrique)
– Farzana Varachia (Director of CBW Africa, CEO of Xanopia Women’s Group)
– Zaheerah Bham-Ismail (Director of CBW Africa, Speech, Language Therapist and Audiologist)
Commonwealth Businesswomen Africa was launched at the end of 2017 across Africa as a strategic regional partner to Commonwealth Businesswomen, working towards women economic empowerment and leadership and connecting businesswomen in Africa to the Commonwealth world.
Commonwealth Businesswomen is a platform to upskill, empower and uplift women and to enable and encourage trade for women in business across the 53 countries of the Commonwealth. CBW Africa is about harnessing the potential and power of women in order to drive economic growth within Africa and this platform affords us that opportunity, comments Xanopia Director and Director of Commonwealth Businesswomen Africa, Farzana Varachia.
CBW is the only accredited membership organization that is recognized by the 52 official Commonwealth governments across the five continents for women economic empowerment. It connects and supports women entrepreneurs at all stages of their business journeys, especially within small and medium enterprises.New members will be able to join the chapter shortly by signing up through the Commonwealth Businesswomen Africa website.
