Etisalat empowers women in Cote d'Ivoire

After its successful launch in both Benin and Togo, Etisalat Group has launched the initiative, known as "WEENA" through its MOOV subsidiary in Cote d'Ivoire. This initiative encourages entrepreneurship and financial autonomy for women in rural African Communities. It is spreading the benefits of mobile technology, raising standards of living and encouraging their activities all at the same time. In Cote d'Ivoire, the women living in rural areas play an important role in systems of agriculture, production and manufacturing. MOOV takes part of the policy of emancipation of women, enabling empowerment through the use of mobile phones. The project called WEENA, which means "thanks to you" was officially launched in Yamoussoukro, to women of several associations and cooperatives from 20 regions of the country. For this reason, MOOV CDI has made the choice of two ambassadors. These ladies are Irie Lou Colette , CEO of National Federation of Cooperatives for Food production in Cote d'Ivoire and BOTTI Lou Rosalie the owner of Cocovico market in Cote d'Ivoire . In addition to the honor that makes these brave ladies, official ambassadors of WEENA project in Cote d'Ivoire, MOOV has made some rewards of 100 000 USD, consisting in 2 trucks for transportation of agricultural products and 600 scales. Making these donations through WEENA initiative, Etisalat / Moov intends to support and encourage producers in their activities and let them build trust in WEENA. When joining WEENA, women are building a saving plan for themselves and for the community they belong to, by using their phone. After each phone call made, savings are automatically cumulated on an individual mobile money account that is open free of charge. This virtual money can be exchanged at merchants against food or primary goods and services in rural Africa. Another saving account is created for the whole community. Part of the total telecommunications spends of the group is deposited back into this account to later finance community projects. Etisalat Group introduced Weena after winning the mWomen Innovation Fund Grant from the GSMA, a global trade association that represents the interests of mobile operators. Even at the early stages in the project, the innovation was already recognised as having great potential as it demonstrated deep understanding of women's needs based on market research, benchmarking with other mobile phone projects targeted at women in the region and analysis of female consumption and recharge patterns. Weena was designed to best meet the needs of women in rural areas.