TPSF hypes role of technology to boost gender parity

AS the world celebrates an International Women’s Day, Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) stresses on the role of innovation and technology in advancing gender equality and empowering women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and alleviate poverty in the communities.

The foundation’s Chairperson Angelina Ngalula said TPSF recognises the catalytic role that women play towards achievement of transformational economic, environmental, and social changes required for sustainable development in our societies hence there’s need to empower them in order to address challenges they are sailing through.

“With over 31.7m women in Tanzania, this number matters because empowering women is “smart economics” and that gender equality promotes economic growth and human development.

“In Tanzania, women entrepreneurs face numerous challenges; including limited access to finance with only 7.8 percent of women have access to bank loans, compared to 22person of men. Other challenges include access to markets, information, and participation in the formal economy,” the TPSF chairperson said.

According to her, innovation and technology provide opportunities to overcome these challenges by providing access to new markets, financing and information.

The International Women’s Day 2023 is being heralded by the theme: “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.”

On this year’s theme, Ms Ngalula says it reflects the role of innovation and technology in advancing gender equality and empowering women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and alleviate poverty in our communities.

“As the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation, we are committed to leveraging innovation and technology to create an enabling environment for women in business across Tanzania. We will continue to advocate for policies and programs that promote gender equality in access to technology, financing, and markets.

“We will also provide capacity building and mentorship programs to support women entrepreneurs to develop their technology skills and integrate technology into their businesses,” she says.

Regarding this year’s theme, the Chairperson is optimistic that more jobs for women in the economy, to expand decent work, to broaden women’s access and control over productive resources and to develop gender-responsive economic plans.

She calls upon all stakeholders, including the government, private sector, civil society, and development partners, to join TPSF’s efforts to harness the power of innovation and technology to empower women in business in Tanzania.

Through cooperation between stakeholders, she adds: “We can create a more inclusive and prosperous society, where women can fully participate and contribute to the economy, and poverty is alleviated.”

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