USA
White House adviser and daughter of the United States president, Ivanka Trump will visit Ivory Coast and Ethiopia over a period of four days this month.
Donald Trump’s daughter will be promoting the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative (WGDP) that was launched in February.
Ivanka’s itinerary
The White House said on Wednesday that Ivanka’s schedule includes a women’s economic empowerment summit in Ivory Coast as well as site visits and meetings with political leaders, executives and female entrepreneurs in both countries.
Accompanying her will be Mark Green, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
She will also be joined David Bohigian, acting president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, as well as Kristalina Georgieva, interim president of the World Bank Group, which is hosting the summit.
OPIC provides loans, loan guarantees and political risk insurance, funding projects that stretch across continents and industries.
Why Ivanka is ‘excited to travel to Africa’
In a statement to The Associated Press, Ivanka said she was “excited to travel to Africa” to advance the effort.
Ivanka who leads the WGDP Initiative says the goal is to economically empower 50 million women in developing countries by 2025.
Georgieva said in a statement that economic empowerment “can help unleash the enormous potential of women entrepreneurs for job creation and economic growth, especially in Africa.”
The initiative which is to be funded by State Department, the National Security Council and other U.S. agencies, to a tune of up to $100m, aims to coordinate current programs and develop new ones to assist women in job training, financial support, legal or regulatory reforms and other areas.
Ivanka has made women’s economic empowerment a centerpiece of her White House portfolio, and has made similar trips to Japan and India.
Her travel to Africa follows a five-day tour that first lady Melania Trump made there last year, with a focus on child welfare.
Agencies
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