On April 22-23, 2024, CLDP through Africa Women and Youth Empowerment Group (AWYEG), in partnership with African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP), the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT), the AmCham Business Summit, and the Commercial Service Women Empowered Leave Legacies Through Trade and Investment (WELLTI), conducted a two-day workshop, that informed women and youth entrepreneurs about the emerging Africa investment framework delineated by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as well as the mechanisms and opportunities of financing available through national and international financial institutions.

More specifically, with a focus on areas and types of investment, including the creative, agricultural, cosmetic, and tourism sectors, the workshop provided women and youth entrepreneurs an increased knowledge regarding:

1. Opportunities, processes, types, and framework of investment in Africa
2. The roles and resources of USG agencies to support potential investors in Africa (especially investors from the African diaspora)
3. Steps to attracting investment, mitigating risk, and financing from commercial banks, international financial institutions
4. The benefits of aggregation and upscaling to achieve volumes necessary for trade with certain U.S. partners
5. The value of tech transfer and achieving standards required by subsidiary and joint venture partners