In 2022 ANDE began to host Gender Learning Communities. The objective of ANDE’s Learning Communities is to create a space for thought leadership, cross learning and is serving as a platform to generate knowledge to advance gender issues, among ANDE awardee alumni, members and stakeholders interested in gender smart approaches.  ANDE chapters have been pairing up to host the learning communities and this learning community consists of two regional cross chapters, consisting of working groups from South Africa and West Africa.

On Thursday 8 June in Dakar, Senegal we will host the second learning community working session of 2023, in person at The Made in West Africa event. The session will be led by the ANDE West Africa and South Africa teams and will consist of it being a breakout room working session which will be designed to be a collaborative and engaging experience, where attendees can learn from directly from small and growing businesses (SGB’s) who are based in the creative industry. They will share their own perspectives on access to finance, the assistance from entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) and how it has helped them achieve their goals.