Enabel 2022 Awa Prize for Women Entrepreneurs

The Awa Prize is a competition organised by Enabel which highlights women entrepreneurs from Belgian development cooperation countries and their projects. The Awa Prize celebrates the work of women who have a positive impact on their communities through their business. Entrepreneurship knows no borders and no gender. All over the world, women and men are enlivening their communities through their businesses. Nonetheless, a woman entrepreneur’s path is often strewn with obstacles which make her project more difficult to materialise. For example, inequalities linked to social norms, the time given to family care, difficulties in accessing the market and financing, or physical and psychological violence based on gender are obstacles for many women. Aware of the economic stakes and committed to acting in favor of a better distribution of opportunities, Enabel has developed at the request of the Minister of Development Cooperation and Major Cities Policy, Meryame Kitir, the Awa Prize, Entrepreneurs with impact. The Awa Prize is a contest which sheds the light on businesses and the women who lead them. But beyond this competition, the Awa Prize aims at federating a community of entrepreneurs around shared values, in order to fight against socio-economic inequalities. Through the Awa Prize, many events will be organised at the local and international levels in order to raise awareness for men and women about the opportunities that women’s entrepreneurship can create. These events will enable progress on actions which can be developed to remove the persistent obstacles.