A Digital Marketplace for face-to-face and virtual business networking sessions was launched, on Friday at Place du Moulin in Bel Ombre, by the spouse of the Prime Minister, Mrs Kobita Jugnauth. This event is part of the Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises Mondiales (FCEM) International Conference, which was held for the third time in Mauritius from 25 to 27 May 2022.
The President of the FCEM, Mrs Marie-Christine Oghly, as well as other personalities were present at the launching ceremony.
In her address, Mrs Jugnauth highlighted that the theme of the FCEM International Conference, ‘The Circular Economy – Women Entrepreneurs as the Driving Force of Change’, is a powerful one as it outlines the role of women in the circular economy. She pointed out that Mauritius is blessed with talented and determined women entrepreneurs, but there is a need to remove existing barriers to women’s economic participation if we want to unleash their full entrepreneurial capacity.
She indicated that, since 2015, there has been a growing awareness in Mauritius that the adoption of emerging technologies will generate more efficiency, productivity and growth of enterprises. In a bid to keep up with the ongoing transformation, she stated, Government has set up an Emerging Technologies Council to advise and support businesses wishing to embark on an innovation journey. As such, the Council will facilitate and coordinate the implementation of ready-made emerging technologies solutions, she added.
Furthermore, Mrs Kobita Jugnauth underscored that, in order to provide access to finance to entrepreneurs, several schemes, such as the Women Entrepreneur Loan Scheme, have been launched. She also underlined that the Mauritius SheTrades Hub project with the International Trade Centre (ITC) has reached an advanced stage. The ITC SheTrades Initiative provides women entrepreneurs and women from Small and Medium Enterprises around the world with a unique network and platform to connect to markets, she observed.
As technology is rapidly transforming our societies in this digital era, she emphasised that women-owned enterprises can benefit a lot by adopting information and communication technology as doing business online requires digital spaces rather than physical spaces. Mrs Jugnauth also reminded that the Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Act 2021 was introduced to minimise the risk of cyberattacks and other risks associated with new technologies, so that every entrepreneur can operate securely.
For her part, Mrs Oghly remarked that circular economy is the future of enterprises and of world citizens. This topic, she stated, goes hand in hand with digitalisation and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way of doing business. She added that the pandemic has nonetheless provided several opportunities for SMEs to accelerate their digitalisation process.
It is recalled that the Association Mauricienne des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises (AMFCE) has been hosting the FCEM International Conference this year. The network created by the FCEM spans over more than 120 countries and includes more than five-million-member companies on five continents. The FCEM forms part of various international bodies, such as the United Nations and the European Parliament. In Mauritius, the AMFCE is the main organisation of women entrepreneurs.
