The Executive Secretary of the UN Commission for Africa, Vera Songwe, has announced plans to set up the African Women Leadership Fund to help speed up the growth of women-led businesses around the Continent. Speaking in Nouakchott, Mauritania, at a joint AU-EU High Level side event, Miss Songwe said depending on resources raised, a network of young women fund managers will be created and trained for two years after which they will be put out into the market. The innovative Fund seeks to address the fundamental gap in the access of women to finance architecture. It will therefore lower the hurdles of women-owned businesses, promote investments in micro enterprises and take women’s cooperatives to the next level. The Fund complements the Africa Women’s Fund of the African Union, the Graça Machel Trust, and other similar mechanisms. The side event was held at the 31st Summit of the African Union Heads of State. GBCONLINE ---DECRYPTED---