Khadija Sheikh

Mauritania- The first edition of the Women Independence Festival was held in 2019 to empower Mauritanian women. This year, the 5th edition of the festival will be held at the Nouakchott Olympic Stadium in Mauritania from March 1 to March 8, 2024 to empower women entrepreneurs, artists and creators.

NuJINHA spoke to Hawa Bâ, the festival coordinator, about the purpose of the festival.

“The first edition of the festival was held in 2019 to host international cultural performances from artists from Asia, Europe and Africa. During the fourth edition of the festival, traditional crafts produced by women were exhibited,” she told us.

Speaking about women, who will participate in the creative market at the festival, she said, “58 women entrepreneurs, artists and creators from Nouakchott, 74 from Kaédi and 20 from Rosso will exhibit their products at the festival. These women have projects in their cities to earn a living for their families. The participants from Kaédi have agricultural projects on dried vegetables. The women from Rosso have a network aiming to collect money to provide financial support to women’s projects. Women from other cities will also participate in the festival to promote their projects.”

Participation from 10 African countries

Women from 10 African countries and Europe will participate in the festival to exhibit their products, Hawa Bâ said. “Many women entrepreneurs, artists and creators applied to exhibit their products at the festival. However, we could only accept 300 applications so that the women would be able to exhibit and promote their products. At the festival, we will hold training courses for women entrepreneurs, artists and creators. We will also hold a special exhibition for women. The exhibition will be participated by women from Mali, Senegal, Benin, Codévar, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Niger, Chad and Tunisia and from Europe. At the festival, women will share their experiences and find solutions to the problems faced by them.”

Call on mothers

Hawa Bâ concluded her speech by calling on mothers to “educate their daughters because education is the most important aspect of success. Education is important to develop themselves and build a better future.”