At summit, women empowerment, sustainable development take lead

Women in the development sector, change-makers, social entrepreneurs and innovators gathered for the third edition of the Women In Development (WID) Summit hosted by Ideation Hub Africa.

This event tagged, ‘Visionaries of Impact: Women Redefining Global Development’ brought together social enterprises, civil society organisations, advocacy groups, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) divisions of institutions to share ideas, inspire, and empower each other to promote empowerment and sustainable development.

According to the Executive Director, Ideation Hub Africa, Debola Deji-Kurunmi, “my drive and our motivation at Ideation Hub Africa, through the Women in Development Summit is to help women leaders within the development sector, layer on the natural passion, altruism, and experience at nurturing. With the required executive education, collaborative platforms, and cutting-edge tools to really emerge on the other side of their fears, stereotypes, and limitations and wind away the need to.

“Over 70 percent of the development space on the continent is led or facilitated by women. So, if you don’t empower women in Development, we are always going to keep grappling with the institutional challenges,” she added.

The first panel discussion with the theme, ‘Innovative approaches to social impact: Powerful Strategies for Driving Sustainable Change’, panelists included founder of the Women in Leadership Advancement Network (WILAN), Abosede George-Ogan; Executive Director of LEAP Africa, Kehinde Ayeni; CEO of Sterling One Foundation, Olapeju Ibekwe; founder of Women At Risk Foundation (WARIF), Dr. Kemi DaSilva-Ibru, and moderated by Deji-Kurunmi, who shared their insights and experiences on creating lasting social change.

In another panel discussion titled, ‘Advancing Tech and Entrepreneurship: Women Driving Future Economic Empowerment’, brought together four inspiring women leaders – Executive Director of the Women’s Technology Empowerment Center (W.TEC), Oreoluwa Somolu Lesi; Executive Director of CyberSafe Foundation, Confidence Staveley; CEO and Co-founder of HerVest, Solape Akinpelu; Director and Head of The Fate Institute, Amaka Nwaokolo, and moderated by Programme Director, Ideation Hub Africa, Oluwatoyin Banjo.
The conversation highlighted the significance of women’s contributions to the tech industry and entrepreneurship, as well as the importance of promoting economic empowerment for women.

Programme Director at Ideation Hub Africa, Oluwatoyin Banjo, described the Summit as a transformative experience where attendees gained immense value from the speakers while Executive Director at MTN Foundation Mrs. Odunayo Sanya noted that the summit is a great opportunity to engage, encourage, and remind women of the validity of their dreams and visions. Adding that women are natural agents of transformation, making them a good fit for the social impact space.

The event also witnessed a-seven strategic Policy RoundTable Session where stakeholders from various sectors engaged in in-depth discussions on critical policy issues affecting Africa and the world. By bringing together policymakers, industry experts, academics and community leaders to develop innovative ideas to solve pressing issues.