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Two Kenyan women entrepreneurs have been short-listed for the forthcoming annual recognition of companies and individuals who have contributed the most to improvement of the business environment in Africa.

Mary Okello—the proprietor of the Makini Group of Schools and Evelyn Mungai of Evelyn College of Design — are battling it out with four other African women for top honours in the Businesswoman of the Year category of the 2007 edition of African Investor Awards.

Mrs Okello and Mrs Mungai were short-listed for the top honours after they scored top approval ratings for responsible investing based on improved financing of their businesses.

Industry players say increased funding to Kenyan women entrepreneurs and a general improvement in the business environment has seen a steady rise in the number of businesses run by women in the country.

Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the chairman of the judging panel, said this year’s edition of the awards received quality entries across the sectors, attesting to the growing recognition of the annual award in the region.

“We believe this reflects an improvement in the business environment in Africa and a further demonstration of the determination by our business leaders to tell a new story about Africa’s development,” said Mr Tukur.

Mrs Okello was the first Kenyan woman to become a bank manager, and was at one time at the managing director of micro-lender Kenya Women’s Finance Trust.

Besides managing the college of design, Ms Mungai also sits in the boards of  the Africa Business Leadership Forum, Kenya chapter of Transparency International and is a Trustee of the President’s Award Scheme.

Mrs Okello told the Business Daily that a recent growth and expansion of the economy coupled with increased financing had placed Kenyan women ahead of their competitors from other African countries.

 “There are more opportunities for the passionate and focused Kenyan women who have taken business to a higher level,” she said.

{mosimage}Winners will be announced at a gala ceremony to be held at the Civic Centre, Lagos, Nigeria on November 7. Among the judges for this year’s edition of the awards is Joe Wanjui, the chancellor of the University of Nairobi and chairman UAP Insurance.

With the Government, financial institutions and donors falling over each other to finance businesswomen, there has arisen an urgent need for horning of financial skills among the budding entrepreneurs.

Finance minister Amos Kimunya allocated Sh2 billion for the financing of women entrepreneurs in the current budget, an effort that is being supported by the setting up by commercial banks of similar funds.

The Sh1 billion Youth Fund has also become a mainstay for women entrepreneurs with statistics showing more women have applied for the funds than their male counterparts.

Already Equity Bank and Family Bank have set up financing funds targeting businesswomen hoping to get a headstart over rivals.

A statement from sponsors of the African Investor of the Year awards said more entries were received across all 17 categories.

Best Initiative in Support of SME Development; Best Infrastructure Deal of the Year; Businesswoman of the Year; Bank of the Year and African Business Leader of the Year received the most applications.

Family Bank is running a Sh500 million fund aimed at women in enterprise which unlike many existing schemes for Small and Micro Enterprise (SME) offers credit to start ups.

In June, Equity Bank unveiled a Sh5 billion fund for women to be disbursed with assistance from the UN, making it the biggest reserved lending pool for any sector in the country.

Elsewhere on the continent, the emergence of high flying businesswomen has been recognised as giving South Africa an edge of the competition.

Business leaders and BEE pioneers Mamphela Ramphele, chair of VC fund Circle Capital Partners; Philisiwe Buthelezi, CEO of the National Empowerment Fund and CEO of the Mvela Group Yolanda Cuba all made it to the Businesswoman of the Year Award short-list.

Nigeria’s banks dominate the Bank of the Year category, with Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Intercontinental Bank, GT Bank and First Bank facing competition from other African names including Barclays Mauritius and Standard Bank.

The award, a global benchmark for excellence on responsible investing has had previous winners such as Sir Richard Branson and Bill Gates.

Written by Mwaura Kimani, Business Daily Africa, http://www.bdafrica.com