This Call to Action was delivered by Tamara M. Bousaamba (Gabon) at the 2022 ECOSOC Youth Forum on behalf of the Africa Youth Partnership to Advocate an Equitable Recovery from the Global COVID-19 Pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, youth and women-led SMEs have faced steep challenges in coping, compared to larger firms. They have struggled to stay alive, with their operations hampered by a sharp fall in sales and revenues, the inability to access adequate financial relief, and often, the inability to transition to remote work.
As we launch the Africa Youth Partnership:
- We call on governments and development partners in Africa to accelerate technology adoption, innovation and digital skills training for youth and women entrepreneurs. This includes the design of an African strategy that accelerates and supports the digital inclusion of youth and women entrepreneurs and empowers them to be successful in both digital business and the digital economy.
- We call on governments and development partners in Africa to improve the business climate and lower barriers to obtaining and controlling resources by strengthening financing and fiscal assistance, reaching youth and women
entrepreneurs first. This includes reductions in the tax burden and social security payments for youth- and women-led businesses.
- We call on governments and development partners to enable gender neutrality in sectoral, industry, and market behaviours through interventions that address pre-existing market behaviours constraining women-led enterprises. This includes supporting young women entrepreneurs to cross over into male-dominated sectors and industries to boost women entrepreneurs’ performance and decrease the gender profit gap.
Thank you!
