Reema Bint Bandar Al Saud is an Arabian princess with an entrepreneurial streak.

As president and CEO of ALFA International and AL HAMA LLC, two leading luxury retail corporations in her native Saudi Arabia, and cofounder of Yibreen, a women's day spa in Riyadh, she is eager to defy the misconception that Saudi women are unsophisticated consumers who will buy any product put in front of them.

Saudi women are not only well-informed about their purchases, but they also seek out entrepreneurial opportunities to serve the needs of other women, she believes.

As if to prove that point, ALFA International owns the license for Harvey Nicols Riyadh, the U.K.-based luxury lifestyle store's first overseas location, which employs Saudi women to be its lead buyers.

Dakar's female taxi drivers shatter taboos and open up transport field for women.

Much more is riding in the backseat of Amy Ndiane’s chic neon yellow cab than the occasional passenger.

A Muslim woman, 30, who supports two kids from the fares she negotiates, Ndiane is an official, supported-by-the-president “Taxi Sister” — one of the select few female cabbies in Senegal.

“I heard there is a woman in the United States who drives a taxi,” mused Ndiane, a former data entry typist. “For Africa, this is a first, for a woman to have a taxi.”

Her novelty can be measured in the exclamations of well-wishers cheering her on from the crowded sidelines of Dakar’s chaotic rush hour.

“Taxi Sister!” hollered a young man trudging up an unforgiving hill pushing a cart of juice for sale.

A laughing male taxi driver waved hello as he and Ndiane orbited a traffic circle together.

The rest of her fans are women — or girls like the teenager in school clothes who heave both hands into the air and cry out “Taxi Sister!” as Ndiane zips by.

“They all want to be taxi drivers,” she said, then chuckled.

She isn’t joking. Three years ago, when Senegal’s government launched its all-women taxi fleet, it targeted modest numbers: Following a request by President Abdoulaye Wade, the state leased 10 hatchbacks on a rent-to-buy basis for women who wished to drive a cab.

Taxi Sister, the thinking went, would be a microfinance trial run for a government that is all but arm wrestling bank chiefs into lending to Senegal’s un-banked masses. In addition it would be a nifty gesture towards female empowerment.

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By Drew Hinshaw
GlobalPost
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Drew Hinshaw/GlobalPost

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Part One

The first female boss of the renowned Snowbirds aerobatic team walks toward her CT-114 Tutor jet and laughingly glances at the rudder to make it hasn't been painted pink.

There have been rumours it might happen, jokes Lt.-Col. Maryse Carmichael.

But the rudder isn't pink. The only thing that distinguishes this jet from a dozen or so others lined up on the tarmac are the black letters on the tail, "CO," for commanding officer.

Carmichael will break a sky-high glass ceiling Thursday by officially taking command of the Snowbirds, becoming the first woman to lead the squadron in its 40-year history.

"It took a little bit of time for women to become pilots (because) it's one of the non-traditional roles, Carmichael told The Canadian Press in an interview at the base in Moose Jaw, Sask.

"Then to gain the experience required to be in command of a squadron takes ... many years."

Carmichael is modest about taking on the ground-breaking role. She notes that while it's a first for the Snowbirds, women have already led other squadrons in the Canadian Forces.

"I don't want to downplay it, it is a fact," she said of being the first. "But really, for me this posting is about the squadron.

"I was on the team a few years ago and I was the first woman to fly with the Snowbirds and that was really different. But now this posting is really about commanding this squadron and commanding the men and women that really represent the Canadian Forces across Canada."

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CTV News Canada
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Troy Fleece/The Canadian Press

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched several new initiatives to support the advancement of entrepreneurship opportunities for women in the developing world, especially in Muslim-populated countries.

These initiatives, which where launched at the sidelines of U.S. President Barack Obama’s entrepreneurial summit in Washington, include the following:

- Tech Women, a program to improve the technological capacity of women living in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the West Bank and Gaza. The program will bring these women to U.S. technology centers such as the Silicon Valley for professional peer mentorships.

- APEC Women Entrepreneurship Summit, a summit focusing on human resources, financing and policy issues. The event is in partnership with Japan, which chairs the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in 2010.

- The Secretary’s International Fund for Women and Girls, a public-private partnership that will provide grants to non-governmental organizations working for the economic, social and political advancement of women worldwide.

- The Secretary’s Innovation Award for the Empowerment of Women and Girls, an award funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. The two-round selection process includes submission of an initial concept paper by June 1, 2010 and a full proposal from those selected from the initial pool of contributors. Winners will be named at the end of 2010.

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By Ivy Mungcal
Devex.com

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