Driving The Economy: African Women's Entrepreneurship Program

Online, July 22, 2013 (Newswire.com) - This Thursday the International Visitors Council of Los Angeles will be welcoming nine fashion industry entrepreneurs from Africa who have been hand-selected as participants in the U.S. Department of State African Women's Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP). The national program kicked-off on Monday in Washington D.C. and their program will continue in L.A. to highlight some of the most successful entrepreneurship and fashion design innovation in the U.S.

The esteemed delegates hail from Benin, Botswana, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Niger, Sierra Leone and Swaziland. The participant representing Kenya is the Project Manager of Mama Africa. Through her textile work using Kenyan fabric, she strives to create jobs and improve economic standards for women and youth. She trains slum-dwelling women to sew and helps them find markets to sell their products. The delegate from Cote d'ivore provides trainings to up to 20 young, disadvantaged women each year. Upon completion of the training program, each participant receives a sewing machine and supplies to open a business. All of the participants in this group are working to create a better world by providing opportunities to underserved women in their communities.

Each of the women holds a high ranking position in the fashion industry in their respective country. While in Los Angeles the women will engage in professional development training and networking opportunities with American counterparts from civil society, corporations, industry associations, non-profit organizations, and multilateral development organizations. The women will develop business partnerships and learn best business practices to build their women-owned small and medium enterprises in their home countries.

AWEP was launched in July 2010 by Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the United States/sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Co-operation Forum. The program is an outreach, education, and engagement initiative that works with African women entrepreneurs to promote business growth; increase trade both regionally and to U.S. markets; create better business environments; and empower African women entrepreneurs to become voices of change in their communities. Secretary Clinton says "Women can be the rock on which a freer, safer, more prosperous Africa is built. They just need the opportunity."

In addition to their professional development, the women will have the opportunity to experience Los Angeles hospitality in the homes of Citizen Diplomats of the International Visitors Council of Los Angeles, the non-profit organization arranging their visit.

Since 1980, the International Visitors Council of Los Angeles (IVCLA) has been arranging exchange programs for nearly one thousand visitors from more than one hundred countries each year. IVCLA's programs provide participants with a first-hand experience of the way of life in the U.S., our institutions, our values and our culture. These exchange programs challenge stereotypes and forge solid links in the global marketplace, informing the visitors about the people, organizations and businesses.