The National Association of Business Women of Malawi (NABW) recently held a "National Call to Action" conference that drew more than 100 women leaders from around the country. A CIPE grantee since 1996, NABW wrapped up a year-long initiative to promote Malawian women in public policymaking that included three regional conferences. In less than a decade, NABW has grown to more than 15,000 members.
Female-owned businesses, including micro-enterprises,
have grown faster than those of their male counterparts in four out of five
commercial sectors in Malawi. At the conference, delegates drafted and approved
policy recommendations on soft goods manufacturing, the hotel and tourism
industry, professional services, and agribusiness.
Women head 34 percent of households in Malawi, but 64 percent of women there live under the poverty level. The "National Call to Action" conference highlighted the need to modify laws so that they level the economic playing field for all Malawians, including women. The NABW has just created a "watchdog" service, "Business Alerts," that will monitor and publish private and public sector efforts to promote small businesses, especially those run by women.
The founder and Executive Director of NABW is Joyce Banda, who was recognized last October by The Hunger Project, based in New York, for her outstanding contributions to Malawian society. Under Banda's leadership, NABW has trained over 12,000 women to run their own businesses and has disbursed more than $2 million in loans to women entrepreneurs.