Following the presentation of the platform by Anna Falth, Manager of the Knowledge Gateway, a lively question and answer session ensued where several business women expressed desire to become champions and advocates of the Knowledge Gateway in their local communities and business networks. The president of the Zimbabwe Women Poultry and Small Livestock Farmers Trust also offered a concrete solution for disseminating targeted content and information from the Knowledge Gateway to women entrepreneurs and women farmers in rural Zimbabwe.

Through the IVLP Programme, women entrepreneurs from across the world come to the United States each year to attend professional development meetings and network with U.S. policy makers, companies, industry associations, nonprofit groups, and multilateral development organizations. The three-week programme allows participants of the African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP) to share best practices, discuss common challenges and learn about the global economy and factors that lead to long-term business growth. 

AWEP is an outreach, education, and engagement initiative launched in July 2010 and led by the US Department of State. It aims to empower African women entrepreneurs to promote business growth, increase trade both regionally and to U.S. markets through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), create better business environments, and become voices of change in their communities.