The Federation of Organizations of Women Entrepreneurs of Central Africa, Congo section (FOFE-AC-CG) organized, on April 12, 2023, in the conference room of the Sino-Congolese Bank for Africa (BSCA Banque) in Brazzaville , the ceremony for the presentation of the certificates of end of training to women entrepreneurs who participated in the training session held from March 27 to 29, in the digital or digital field, in particular in: E-commerce or E-business and Webmaster .
The ceremony took place under the patronage of the Minister of Posts and the Digital Economy, represented by his chief of staff, Jean-Marie Nianga, participants of the last training session, the presidents of partner associations, Madame le point gender and digital focal point in the office of the Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, Cindy Gamassa, the President of the Network of Young Entrepreneurs of Congo (RJEC) Audin Ndongo and Mr. Ugain Kaya and other partners.
The president of FOFE-AC-CG, Ms. Carine Ibombo, first of all thanked the brave women entrepreneurs for their selflessness and their spirit of active and active responsibility.
“The training of women entrepreneurs is undoubtedly an event that has kept all its promises, and we can legitimately congratulate ourselves on it. The main promise kept is that of being able to transmit knowledge to the women who took part in this session on certain trades online and some knowledge of the use of certain tools for posting articles on websites and digital applications. They were a total of fifty women on the first day who took part in our training session organized on the occasion of the international day of women’s rights, and in fine, 24 women including myself who remained in the running. We held out until the end of this training, which had a frenetic frequency without stopping, ”she said.
For Mrs. Carine Ibombo, every year, many innovative training courses and new professions are created. These professions push ordinary mortals, mainly young people, to project themselves into the digital world by discovering other options and other opportunities. Such is the case of these women who have discovered the basics of E-commerce, E- business and Webmaster through the training given to them. The women entrepreneurs were trained by Mr. Christ Lando, a graduate in HTML, keen on computer management, teacher at EAD and text formatting language at Concordia University in Montreal.
“During this ceremony, we will proceed to the presentation of attendance certificates to all the women who participated in this training and certificates of participation to the 24 women who followed the complete training in E-commerce, E-business and in webmaster. We congratulate them for their promptness, their diligence and their courage, for their availability and the confidence they have placed in us in order to soak up the benefits of this training,” she added.
Indeed, the digital which has become a tool or a capital field, today makes it possible to embrace a career of the future, it affects all branches of activity. Having a broad knowledge of digital professions means breaking the intellectual imbalance and the digital divide. Digital is at the heart of our societies. Therefore, the digital can be equated with life.
“This is why women, who represent half of humanity, must seize the opportunities offered by the information technology sector (IT in acronym) in order to take their place in this “world of tomorrow”. ”, more and more demanding”, specified the president of the FOFE-AC, Congo section.
Thus, during its last census in 2017, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) demonstrated that, in digital professions, women represented only 23% of all employees. employees. More specifically, their share rises to 24% for the expertise and consulting professions, but the statistics drop to 9% for those of infrastructure and services, and 17% for the development and programming professions. In 2019, the sector was still having difficulty attracting women. Following this, Mrs. Carine Ibombo dares to hope that, in this year 2023, these figures will be high and that taboos will be broken.
“Through this 3-day training, we wanted to arouse the desire and the taste in these women entrepreneurs so that they can use or test the ground of the digital professions”, she wished.
For Ms. Ibombo, as we often say, “”digital is qualified as the oil of the 21st century” and the “majors” have the names: Google, Amazon, Facebook or Apple, the famous GAFA, these digital giants which have put their tentacles in all sectors of life today, but also Cisco or Salesforce as far as Europe is concerned. As for China, the “majors” are: Alibaba, Weibo, Huawei or Xiaomi. But here in Africa or better in the Congo, until then it’s almost chaos. Let’s not be afraid to say it,” she remarked.
“We hope that with young women like Cyndi Gamassa and Serémamabikas as well as other start-up women and why not you ladies already trained at FOFE in digital professions, tomorrow we will have digital majors like ”the oil of the 21st century ”, appreciated Ms. Ibombo.
In addition, Mrs. Cindy Gamassa, FOFE-Congo Focal Point, believes that it is an honor and a real pleasure for her to be among the recipients of certificates to crown the efforts of integration into the digital sphere in search of a better quality not only of communication but above all, of life.
” Yes! More and more women are showing interest in active and concrete participation in the development of their country. This manifests itself through training, priority issues for African youth and women for the achievement of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) on the continent so that no one is left on the sidelines. In the case of our country, the Republic of Congo has adopted a National Gender Policy, centered on: the reduction of gender inequalities; socio-economic empowerment of women through female entrepreneurship training; support for the implementation of income-generating activities, etc. a national program to promote female leadership in politics and public life for the period 2017-2021 and a National Development Plan (PND) 2018-2022 renewed in the PND 2022-2026. But political will alone is not enough. Congolese women themselves must wake up and become aware of their rights to economic resources, establish their needs for internet access and acquire knowledge of mastering digital equipment so that we get noticed more and therefore listen,” she caught the attention of women entrepreneurs.
“Don’t we say that educating a woman amounts to educating a nation? E-commerce, in English e-business, as well as the basics of the webmaster profession today constitute the essential base of this knowledge in the current era, for the achievement of financial independence. Each of you who participated in this training has grasped the importance of its impact on this organization as well as the impact on the associations that constitute them. Indeed, being aware of one’s role and individual participation in the advancement of great causes is the reason for my presence before you”, explained and underlined the FOFE-Congo focal point.
During this speech, Ms. Cindy Gamassa gave a more than poignant testimony!
“I returned to Congo in 2020 to undertake with a digital strategy propelled by the covid crisis. In a time when no one could set foot outside their home, I used an opportunity to create my business in digital communication. It is thanks to free online training that I was able to learn and by my will that I fought for more opportunities. I showed up at all the digital fairs, selling off my services to achieve goals until I got to where I am. Now appreciated at my fair value, I hope that other women fully embrace their abilities so that they too can participate in their sectors of activity. But what we are looking for is to be able to convert informal entrepreneurship and for the contribution of women to be quantifiable,” she said.
She then urged women entrepreneurs to have more commitment, determination and perseverance.
“What I do, you can do. I therefore encourage you once again to train yourself according to your skills and objectives. Ladies be pragmatic, optimize your time, get down to the task of ensuring financial stability and thereby a better future regardless of your age and the beginning of your story. Remember that what matters is the end,” concluded Ms. Gamassa.
In turn, Mr. Jean-Marie Nianga, Chief of Staff welcomed the initiative how saving for women who embark on entrepreneurship in our country. He also thanked and paid well-deserved tribute to the organizers for the relevance of this training, which will further lead women to the formalization of their professional activities. He therefore, on behalf of the Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, closed the work of the masterclass of the Federation of Organizations of Women Entrepreneurs.
Thus, twenty-four women entrepreneurs received their training certificates at the end of a training session in the digital profession.
On this occasion, two memorandums of understanding were signed: on the one hand, between FOFE-Congo, represented by its president, Mrs. Carine Ibombo and the RJEC (Réseau des Jeunes Entrepreneurs du Congo), represented by Mr. Audin Ndongo ; on the other hand, between the FOFE, Congo section and the NGO Eveil d’Afrique, represented by one of these members.
In short, the president of FOFE, Ms. Carine Ibombo, announced the forthcoming holding in Brazzaville of a great reunion of women entrepreneurs from Central Africa.
VALDA SAINT-VAL / Les Echos du Congo-Brazzaville
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