LADOL backs female entrepreneurs at UNGA week
LADOL Free Zone (LADOL), the sustainable special economic zone based in Lagos, has announced its support for ‘The WE Empower UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDG) Challenge,’ as one of its lead partners.
This is in line with its commitment to the young entrepreneurs and the UN Sustainability Goals. Amy Jadesimi, managing director of LADOL, was a member of the panel of the judges for The WE Empower UN SDG Challenge (WE Empower), where five female entrepreneurs were selected, from each of the five UN regions, as awardees of the first WE Empower Challenge.
The judges convened with the awardees in New York City during the UN General Assembly in September, when the finalists gave dynamic pitches to the chairperson of the event.
The five awardees of the first WE Empower competition were Habiba Ali, founder, managing director/CEO, Sosai Renewable Energies, Nigeria; Hadeel Mustafa Anabtawi, founder, The Alchemist Lab, Jordan; Marijana Savic, founder and director, NGO Atina and Bagel Bejgl Shop, Serbia; Marta del Rio Villanueva, founder/CEO, Wasi Organics, Peru; Shimrit Perkol-Finkel, co-founder/CEO, ECOncrete Tech Ltd., Israel.
The competition aims to raise awareness of the valuable contribution women entrepreneurs are making and can make towards achieving the SDGs by 2030, by building sustainable businesses and inspiring others to follow suit.
It also supports the innovative work being undertaken by these entrepreneurs and provides capacity-building training sessions and high-level advocacy opportunities to the awardees.
“Women are not simply beneficiaries of SDG Goal five. They are also leading the achievement of all SDGs. If the world commits to gender equality, equal engagement in the workforce will add $28 trillion US dollars to annual global GDP in 2025.
According to her, competitions like WE Empower can raise awareness of the great work female leaders are doing to support the Sustainable Development Goals and will encourage more to come forward and follow in their footsteps.
“Congratulations to all the women who competed, to the five awardees and Habiba Ali. We look forward to seeing how LADOL can provide more support for her and other female entrepreneurs,” she added.