Boosting forest value chains, supporting over 500 SMEs, and improving livelihoods for forest-dependent communities
Washington, USA, 02 April 2026 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- The World Bank Group today approved a new operation that will transform forest economies in Central Africa. The International Development Association (IDA)-funded Sustainable Congo Basin Forest Economies Program (SCBFEP) –$394.83 million for Phase 1—, will improve forest management, strengthen forest value chains, and will generate 220,000 jobs across the Republic of Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), and the Republic of Congo (RoC). This first phase forms part of a larger $1.02 billion multi-phase program to unlock economic, climate, and livelihood benefits from the world’s second-largest tropical forest biome, demonstrating that sustainable economic development and forest stewardship can, and must, go hand in hand.
This next generation of forest investments moves decisively beyond a conservation-only approach, building the economic conditions that make forest stewardship sustainable. Marginalized communities, indigenous peoples, and forest-dependent communities stand at the heart of the program. During its initial phase, nearly 8 million hectares will be placed under sustainable management. The program will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 17.6 million tCO2e and increase the share of legally processed wood by 15%, while supporting community forest enterprises, agroforestry systems, and SME processing zones. More than 500 SMEs and 20,000 people — 40% of them women — will gain access to training, finance, and value chain infrastructure, while over 7,000 youth will be supported into entrepreneurship. These will unlock real jobs and real economic opportunities for the 60 million people living in and around the Congo Basin who have long been bypassed by growth.
“This new program marks a milestone for the Congo Basin, where sustainable forest economies create jobs, raise incomes, and strengthen resilience for millions of people,” says Chakib Jenane, World Bank Regional Director for Planet. “By scaling legal wood production, improving governance, and investing in skills and enterprise growth, countries can unlock inclusive and sustainable prosperity.”
The program adopts a strong regional approach by supporting coordinated investments across the three participating countries, while leveraging the mandates of key regional institutions such as the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) and the Central African Forests Commission (COMIFAC) to harmonize forest policies and strengthen cross‑border governance.
“The Congo Basin is a shared resource, and its sustainability depends on coordinated policies and close regional cooperation,” declares Marina Wes, Acting World Bank Director for Regional Programs.“By strengthening regional institutions, the program improves wood trade standards and create a powerful platform for learning and collaboration across the Basin.”
The new initiative aligns directly with the Global Challenge Program on Forests for Development, Climate, and Biodiversity, while supporting participating countries’ national development strategies and regional commitments, as well as their climate objectives. With strong potential to expand carbon market opportunities and mobilize long-term private sector investment in sustainable forestry, it offers a replicable model for how job creation, shared prosperity, and forest economies can advance together.
Young women attending a training in Chad. Credit: Miguel San Joaquin.
Washington, USA, 27 March 2026 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- When you think about sub-Saharan Africa, and about the young women who live across the region, what comes to mind? Many are mothers. Many are tireless workers. Many are the emotional and practical backbone of their households and communities.
But the picture is also changing. Increasingly, more young women are finishing high school, enrolling in university, getting better jobs, and building careers beyond the home. This has not always been the dominant narrative in West and Central Africa, where even today about 40% of young women are neither in school, in training, nor employed.
Linking learning and skills opportunities with access to jobs and real economic pathways for about 3 million women
Across Western and Central Africa, the Sub-Saharan Africa Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend project — known as SWEDD+ — is supporting that change of trajectory.
Building on the original regional SWEDD project launched in the Sahel in 2015, the broader SWEDD/SWEDD+ initiative has reached nearly 3 million women and adolescent girls by linking learning and skills opportunities with real economic pathways and access to maternal and child health services. About 255,000 of these women have gained practical skills and entered the workforce with confidence through the program’s economic empowerment activities. SWEDD+ is expanding the participation and leadership of women and girls while also strengthening institutional capacity for equal rights for women across the region.
Women’s individual stories, spanning fields from skilled trades to healthcare to entrepreneurship, show what becomes possible when talent meets access to opportunity.
“Now we’re motivated and earning money to support our families. We’re happy to bring solar energy to the villages.” Angelique ,Benin.
Angelique and Odette at work. Credit: Miguel San Joaquin.
Angelique and Odette, from Benin, left school in fifth and fourth grade when their families could no longer afford the fees. Today, their path looks very different. Thanks to SWEDD, both young women got trainings in a non-traditional economic activity: building electrification and solar photovoltaic installation. They now have a better job and have been working for over two years with a private company installing solar panels. The pride in their voices is unmistakable. “Now we’re motivated and earning money to support our families,” Angelique says. “We’re happy to bring solar energy to the villages.”
Leaving school because of financial hardship is still a common reality across West and Central Africa. Harmelle, also from Benin, had to leave school at age 14. She married soon after and became a mother, but two years later her husband died, leaving her in a precarious financial situation. A turning point came when she and her twin sister enrolled in a SWEDD entrepreneurship program that provided training and a starter kit for snail farming. With it came something just as important: peace of mind. “When I started farming, there were some difficulties,” she recalls, “but then we began earning money, and everyone was better off.”
Harmelle and her twin sister. Credit: Miguel San Joaquin.
In Chad, Djogoita was inspired by her father, a police officer, to find her own way to serve her community. She chose midwifery and the role has given her both purpose and confidence. “When they bring me a pregnant woman or a child from 0 to 14 years old, I can use the knowledge I gained through my training to help them,” she explains with a great satisfaction of having a fulfilling job.
Djogoita and her father. Credit: Miguel San Joaquin.
Investing in women: one of the smartest economic bets to powering local economies
Across Western and Central Africa, the transformation is underway. With the right skills, support, and opportunities, a new generation of women and girls is not only increasing their own economic independence: they are powering local economies and investing back into their families and communities. The lesson is clear: when young women are given the tools to succeed, the returns reach far beyond the individual. Investing in women and girls is not just the right thing to do; it is one of the smartest economic bets West and Central Africa can make.
Creating more and better jobs across the region is central to the World Bank Group’s mission. By equipping young women with relevant skills and connecting them to real economic opportunities, programs like SWEDD/SWEDD+ directly advance this agenda — turning human potential into productive employment that fuels inclusive and sustainable growth.
In this International Women’s month, the stories of Angelique, Odette, Harmelle, and Djogoita remind us that the future of the region’s growth and resilience is already taking shape: one young woman at a time, trained, employed, and empowered to drive change in her community.
Charlotte set as flagship city for dual-track sports and careers initiative
SEED Project Partners at the launch of the US-Africa Youth Talent Combine and Sports Careers Summit: February 16, 2026, Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES, United States of America, 2 March 2026-/African Media Agency(AMA)/-The SEED Project, together with implementation partners the Pan African Council, Champs for Change, and the Global Africa Business Accelerator (GABA) Center, has taken a major step toward launching the U.S.–Africa Youth Talent Combine and Sports Careers Summit following a high-level Stakeholder Roundtable held during NBA All-Star Week in Los Angeles.
Convened by SEED Project and supported by SEED founder Amadou Gallo Fall, the roundtable brought together HBCU leaders, African and Caribbean diaspora representatives, city officials, impact investors, sports executives, and youth development organizations. The group aligned around the shared goal of using sport as a platform for education, careers, and economic mobility on both sides of the Atlantic.
Dual-track model: on-court and across the ecosystem
The U.S.–Africa Youth Talent Combine and Sports Careers Summit builds on a historical combine model while adding a second, equally weighted track focused on careers:
A high-performance basketball combine for athletes, featuring standardized testing, positional skill work, and 5-on-5 evaluations.
A parallel Sports Careers Summit for non-athlete and multi-interest youth, offering personality-based career assessments, hands-on labs, shadowing experiences, and mentoring across media, analytics, operations, coaching, entrepreneurship, technology, esports, and sports diplomacy.
“This is about who gets to build the future of sport,” said Fabien Anthony, Chairman of the Pan African Council. “We are designing a platform where young people can move from fan to professional on the floor, in the boardroom, and across the global economy.”
Charlotte as flagship launch
Roundtable participants endorsed Charlotte, North Carolina as the flagship host city for the first event, subject to final alignment with the Charlotte Hornets and facility partners. The concept calls for:
A three-day program at the Hornets’ arena, combining on-court evaluation and off-court career exploration.
HBCU- and city-led learning experiences, using Charlotte’s history with HBCU tournaments and NBA All-Star as a live case study in major event delivery, cultural impact, and local economic benefits.
“Charlotte offers a powerful classroom,” said Kimberly Nelson, CEO of the GABA Center. “Young people will see how a single event mobilizes hundreds of roles from game operations and storytelling to hospitality, technology, finance, healthcare and city planning.” Centering youth careers in sport
Champs for Change (C4C) will lead design and delivery of the Sports Careers Summit, ensuring non-athlete youth are full co-beneficiaries of the program rather than an add-on. “Every young person who walks into this experience should leave with a clearer pathway whether that’s in front of the camera, behind the camera, at the scorer’s table, in the startup lab, or leading in their community,” said Memuna Williams, co-founder of Champs for Change. “We’re building a generation of African and diaspora leaders who see sport as an industry.”
Next steps
SEED Project and its partners agreed to a 90-day roadmap that includes finalizing dates and space requirements with the Charlotte Hornets, refining the combine and Summit curriculum, mapping industry roles to HBCU and African university programs, and structuring a shared sponsorship and scholarship fund. A post-meeting report, recording these commitments was circulated among project stakeholders on February 24.
“This initiative is a movement to build prosperity across the continent, elevate youth through mentorship and professionalism, and integrate African talent into global value chains,” the partners said in a joint statement.
SEED Project (Sports for Education and Economic Development) is an International NGO that uses education and basketball to develop the next generation of socially conscious African leaders that have the tools to lead their country. Learn more at seedproject.org.
Pan-African Council (PAC) is the premier global leadership and strategic development organization dedicated to elevating Africa and her Diaspora on the world stage. Guided by its multi-faceted approach, the Council bridges political divides through diplomatic engagement; unlocks shared prosperity by fostering economic opportunities; and empowers communities with targeted social initiatives. Learn more at panafricancouncil.org.
Champs for Change (C4C) is a pan‑African social enterprise that supports young people who want to build careers in sport, both on and off the field. Through resources, mentoring, training, connection to networks and collaboration, C4C helps the people behind the game turn passion for sport into real education, work, and entrepreneurship opportunities. Learn more at champs4change.org and share your interest in working with C4C here.
The GABA Center (Global Africa Business Accelerator) is the diplomatic and commercial bridge connecting the United States, Africa, and the global diaspora. Through its four strategic pillars, Capacity Building, Workforce Development, Venture Building, and Ecosystem Building, GABA delivers integrated programming that strengthens local economies and opens global pathways for entrepreneurs, investors, and institutions. Learn more at gabacenter.com.
Less manual work, smarter, AI-powered financial control, and a future-ready platform designed to scale with Kenyan businesses.
NAIROBI, Kenya, 12 February 2026-/African Media Agency(AMA)/-Sage, the leader in accounting, financial, HR, and payroll technology for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), has launched Sage Intacct in Kenya. The launch marks a significant step forward in how mid-sized businesses can operate, by bringing intelligent, AI-powered financial management that delivers real-time visibility and data-driven insights.
Sage Intacct is a cloud-native, AI-enabled financial management platform built to help growing organisations modernise and automate their finance operations. By embedding intelligence across core financial processes, it enables finance teams to move beyond manual tasks and focus on strategic decision-making. Key capabilities include multi-entity consolidation, real-time dashboards and reporting, and intelligent automation of workflows across core accounting functions like orders, purchasing, and cash management. Built for scalability, Sage Intacct supports complex, global operations with multi-currency, multi-entity structures and integrates seamlessly with other business systems through open APIs.
Key features and benefits of Sage Intacct include:
Making informed decisions: AI-powered dashboards and real-time reporting give finance teams and business leaders instant visibility into trusted financial data to help them make better, data-driven decisions.
Intelligent Automation of finance operations: Finance teams will no longer need to manage tedious spreadsheet tasks and manual data entry, helping save time and reducing errors.
Scalable innovation for growing businesses: Built on a cloud-native, future-ready architecture, Sage Intacct scales effortlessly as businesses grow, allowing them to add new capabilities and innovate without disruptions.
Enhanced accuracy through intelligent finance: Finance teams can easily harness the power of intelligent automation to automate processes like outlier detection and smart rules for bank reconciliation, thereby improving data accuracy and identifying potential risks or fraud.
Seamless integration: Finance teams can easily integrate Sage Intacct with other applications using its open architecture and library of APIs.
Multi-entity insights: Empowers growing multi-entity businesses with valuable insights for clarity and enhanced efficiency.
Jordaan Burger, Managing Director, Sage Africa & Middle East
Jordaan Burger, Managing Director for Sage AME, says, “At Sage, innovation is driven by our customers’ needs. Launching Sage Intacct in Kenya reflects our commitment to supporting the country’s growing community of SMBs and mid-market organisations with intelligent, AI-powered financial technology as they accelerate their digital transformation journeys. As one of Africa’s fastest-growing technology and innovation hubs, Kenya continues to set the pace as today’s finance leaders need real-time insights, intelligent automation, and scalable cloud platforms to keep up with that momentum.”
Darius Bester ACMA/CGMA, Senior Accountant, Q4 Fuel (Pty) Ltd says, “As Q4 Fuel scaled into a complex, multi-entity operation, our legacy systems could no longer keep up. Sage Intacct has transformed how we run finance across the group, giving us real-time visibility across all 28 entities, stronger control over assets and compliance, and faster, more reliable reporting. We’ve cut month-end close by up to 10 days, reduced invoice processing from a full day to just a few hours and continue to see 10–20% month-on-month efficiency gains. By integrating directly with our POS and operational systems, we’ve eliminated manual imports and improved data integrity, allowing our finance team to focus on higher-value work like inventory and margin analysis.”
As innovation continues to move at pace, Sage has an exciting roadmap for AI features that will unlock faster decision-making and give finance leaders more time to focus on impact. Sage is committed to bringing the best new technology to Kenya and the rest of Africa.
Gerhard Hartman, Vice President for Medium Business, Sage Africa & Middle East concludes: “Kenya’s Digital Economy Blueprint and the National AI Strategy 2025-2030, clearly signal the country’s ambition to harness AI and automation to transform critical sectors such as agriculture, fintech, public services, and innovation-led entrepreneurship. As digital transformation accelerates, businesses across Kenya are moving beyond legacy systems and embracing intelligent, cloud-based platforms. Sage Intacct is purpose-built for this moment, helping organisations not only automate and streamline financial operations, but also unlock the insight, agility, and innovation needed to lead in Kenya’s next phase of economic growth. Through intelligent automation and real-time financial insights, Sage Intacct enables finance teams in a digital-first economy.”
Following successful launches in South Africa, the UAE and other SADC countries, Sage Intacct will be brought to Kenya through certified business partners offering deep expertise in specific vertical markets.
Sage Intacct success stories Sage has built a strong base of Sage Intacct clients in South Africa since launching the solution in 2020, including Wild Eye, Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund, ATKV, and Retail Capital, to name a few.
Find out how customers are using Sage Intacct to drive better business outcomes on our Customer Success Stories page.
Sage Intacct helped Q4 Fuel overcome manual processes, achieve a 10-day faster month-end close, and shift finance from reporting to strategy.
Sage Intacct gives Wild Eye the structure and visibility to make confident decisions as it grows.
Sage Intacct has elevated LPFF’s operational excellence and enabled it to navigate the complex and evolving legal and regulatory landscape.
Sage Intacct enhanced ATKV’s communication and standardised processes, enabling real-time access to information from any device.
Sage Intacct enabled Retail Capital’s transactions to be 99% automated.
About Sage Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of Small and Mid-Sized Businesses served by us, our partners, and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR, and payroll software to make work and money flow. By digitising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, our digital network connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology, and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality, and the climate crisis.
Sage Intacct is currently available to customers in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, the UAE, some SADC countries and South Africa.
Applications Now Open for Africa’s Most Ambitious Startups to Compete for Global Recognition and $1 Million Prize
ABUJA, Nigeria, 19 January 2025-/African Media Agency (AMA)/-The 2026 RegTech Africa Conference & Exhibition is set to host the prestigious Startup World Cup Regional Competition in Abuja, marking a major milestone for Africa’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. Applications are now officially open for startups to register and participate in this globally renowned competition.
Organised in partnership with Pegasus Tech Ventures, the Startup World Cup is one of the world’s largest and most prestigious startup pitch competitions, bringing together the most promising innovators from across continents. The Abuja regional competition will identify a top startup, which will advance to the global finals for a chance to compete for $1 million in investment and gain unparalleled international exposure.
A Global Platform for African Innovation The Startup World Cup Regional Competition at RegTech Africa Conference will provide startups operating across all stages and sectors—including fintech, regtech, payments, AI, cybersecurity, digital identity, e-commerce, healthtech, agritech, and climate tech—with a powerful platform to showcase their solutions before a distinguished audience of investors, regulators, corporate leaders, and global ecosystem partners.
Finalists will be invited to pitch live before a high-level jury comprising venture capitalists, industry leaders, and ecosystem experts, with the winning startup advancing to the global finals for the chance to win the $1 million grand prize.
Why Abuja, Why RegTech Africa Conference As Africa’s leading platform for regulatory innovation and digital transformation, the RegTech Africa Conference & Exhibition convenes senior policymakers, regulators, financial institutions, technology companies, startups, and development partners from across Africa and beyond. Hosting the Startup World Cup within this setting creates a unique convergence of innovation, policy, capital, and market access, enabling startups to engage decision-makers who shape real-world adoption and scale.
Speaking on the announcement, Cyril Okoroigwe, CEO at RegTech Africa, said: “Hosting the Startup World Cup Regional Competition in Abuja underscores our commitment to positioning Africa as a global innovation powerhouse. This is more than a pitch competition—it is a gateway for African startups to access global capital, partnerships, and visibility.”
Who Should Apply
The competition is open to:
Startups of all stages and industries
Founders building scalable, technology-driven solutions
African startups and international startups with a strong Africa focus
Evaluation Criteria
Judges will be assessing startups based on several factors, including how innovative and impactful the idea is, the strength of the team, and the overall presentation of the pitch. The competition seeks startups that solve real problems, meet market needs, and demonstrate the potential for significant growth.
Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to take your startup to the next level and represent Africa on the global stage!
About Startup World Cup Startup World Cup is a global startup competition organised by Pegasus Tech Ventures, featuring regional events across more than 70 countries and culminating in a grand finale where regional winners compete for a $1 million investment prize.
About RegTech Africa RegTech Africa is a leading platform dedicated to advancing regulatory technology across the African continent.
Washington, USA, 16 January 2026-/African Media Agency(AMA)/-The World Bank approved $100 million in financing from the International Development Association (IDA) to help Benin promote access to finance and growth for women entrepreneurs in both the formal and informal sectors.
The Women Entrepreneurship Development and Access to Finance Program (WEDAF) is a results-based program (PforR). It will support the government in setting up a Women’s Business Center and provide more than 10,000 women-led micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with access to loans, training, mentoring, and career advice. This results-based program will competitively select a cohort of promising enterprises led or owned by women-Les Agodjié, who are the champions of women’ s entrepreneurship. These Agodjié Champions will benefit from a package of support, including technical assistance, access to tailored financing instruments, investment readiness support, market access, as well as structured mentorship, to position their businesses as flagships of the Beninese economy and engines of job creation.
“In addition to the challenges that all businesses face, women face specific barriers that limit the creation, development, and growth of their businesses. The WEDAF program aims to accelerate the growth of women-owned and women-led businesses and strengthen their role in creating jobs and wealth,” said Mamadou Tanou Baldé, World Bank Acting Country Manager for Benin. “When women entrepreneurs have access to finance, training, and mentorship, their business performance and job creation increase significantly.”
This program benefits from substantial complementary support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. The latter will bring its expertise in capital structuring, its ability to mobilize regional investors, as well as its technical expertise, through tailor-made advisory services. It will help overcome capacity, formalization and financing barriers faced by women entrepreneurs. In addition, IFC will offer its own financing solutions, focusing on SMEs with commercial potential, while increasing the number of women-led businesses benefitting. This will involve current and future investments as well as advisory services – such as the Banking on Women program – for the benefit of partner financial intermediaries.
“Only 3.9% of women-managed businesses have access to bank loans, and many operate in a market segment underserved by microfinance institutions or commercial banks. This program is a real opportunity to turn women entrepreneurs into true national champions,” says Vincent Arthur Floreani, IFC Country Officer for Benin.
This program is aligned with the National Policy for the Development and Promotion of SMEs 2025-2035. Its objective is that by 2035, Beninese MSMEs will operate competitively in an adequate institutional framework and a business environment conducive to wealth creation and decent and sustainable jobs.
DUBAI, UAE, 22 December 2025-/African Media Agency (AMA)/-Yango Group today published its inaugural Impact Report, a comprehensive overview of the company’s social, economic, and environmental contributions across more than 30 countries. The report introduces a long-term framework for how Yango measures and communicates its value as a global technology company rooted in emerging markets.
The publication reflects Yango’s evolution from a ride-hailing service launched in 2018 into a multi-service digital ecosystem used daily by millions of people. The report outlines how Yango’s technology enables local entrepreneurship, expands earning opportunities for partner drivers and couriers, and supports the development of the skilled workforce needed for future digital cities.
Daniil Shuleyko, CEO of Yango Group, described the report as a significant milestone for the company. “As we continue expanding globally, we are committed to scaling not only our technology, but also our positive impact on communities, local economies, and future generations. Our goal is to help build the digital cities and digital opportunities of tomorrow — together with the countries we serve,” he said.
Empowering local partners: $4B Earned last year
According to the report, partner drivers and couriers working with Yango services earned more than USD 4 billion in 2024. Yango’s partner network now includes 6,000 businesses, 2.1 million registered partner drivers, and 600,000 partner couriers. In the delivery segment, 40% of users are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that rely on Yango’s infrastructure to reach customers and scale their operations. These dynamics position Yango as an important contributor to economic activity and entrepreneurship across Africa and other emerging markets.
Strengthening local economies through technology
The report also details how Yango’s technology supports urban development and digital commerce. In Côte d’Ivoire, the company is piloting electric mobility initiatives that help reduce emissions and modernize transport infrastructure. Across markets, services such as Yango Buy & Sell enable small merchants to increase visibility and customer trust, reinforcing their participation in digital commerce. Meanwhile, Yango Food Delivery continues to broaden access to local restaurants and everyday essentials, stimulating consumer activity while creating flexible earning opportunities for couriers.
Investing in STEM: preparing talent for the cities of tomorrow
A major focus of the report is Yango’s investment in STEM education and digital skills training, implemented through 4 flagship initiatives that equip young people with the capabilities needed in fast-growing digital economies. The first of these initiatives is the Yango Fellowship, launched in Zambia to support outstanding STEM students with full financial assistance, mentorship, and practical workshops. The Fellowship expanded to Côte d’Ivoire in early 2025, opening new pathways for young innovators. Alongside the Fellowship, Yango has strengthened hands-on learning through mobility and smart-city hackathons, which brought together more than 800 participants across 6 African countries. These events helped learners build applied skills in data science, machine learning, and urban innovation. To broaden access to foundational digital knowledge, Yango also offered free SQL data analysis courses, completed by more than 2,000 learners in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Zambia. These courses provided essential data literacy for careers in technology-driven sectors. In Cameroon, Yango supported the Technovation Challenge, enabling 100 girls to develop technology and entrepreneurship projects under the guidance of local mentors. The initiative reinforces Yango’s commitment to expanding opportunities for young women in STEM. Together, these programs illustrate Yango’s long-term vision to help prepare young people across Africa to participate in and shape the digital cities of tomorrow.
Community investment and cultural inclusion
Beyond technology and education, the report highlights Yango Group’s community initiatives across Africa, including digital inclusion programs for visually impaired students in Angola, support for youth football academies in Côte d’Ivoire and Zambia, and public art projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These efforts reflect Yango’s belief that technological progress should advance alongside social inclusion and cultural preservation.
The news broke on Sunday, November 16, at BravoCon 2025 when Andy Cohenconfirmed that the premiere season will follow Alicia Carmody, Rosie DiMare, Ashley Iaconetti, Liz McGraw, Rulla Nehme Pontarelli, Kelsey Swanson and Jo-Ellen Tiberi as they navigate the highs and lows of Rhode Island’s close-knit social scene.
“They may live in the smallest state in the country, but their drama Extra large,” read a press release from the network. “As The Real Housewives hits its milestone 20th anniversary next year, Bravo is expanding the distinguished franchise with The Real Housewives of Rhode Island, spotlighting a fresh, charismatic group of women whose lives intertwine across the storied coastline of New England luxury.”
While season 1 features nearly all brand-new faces, The Real Housewives of New Jersey‘s Dolores Catania will be joining the cast as a friend. Keep scrolling to meet the rest of the women who make up the show:
According to her bio, Alicia isn’t shy about her roots after being born and raised in Rhode Island.
“After eight years of engagement to fiancé Billy Kitsilis, Alicia “still isn’t ready to take the plunge — even for their daughter, Celina,” the description continued. “When she’s not dodging wedding bells, Alicia helps Billy run his restaurant, Pizza Mamma, proving she can handle the heat both in and out of the kitchen.”
Rosie DiMare
Courtesy of Rosie DiMare
The former local television news anchor is now the host of her own lifestyle program and a sought-after DJ. Rosie recently celebrated her first wedding anniversary to husband Rich DiMare a.k.a a well-known Frank Sinatra style singer.
“While Jared manages their beloved coffee shop, Ashley has built a thriving career as a social media powerhouse, all while acclimating her new life in her husband’s home state,” Bravo teased in a press release.
“Alongside her husband, Gerry, she owns and operates The Slater Center, the largest and most successful cannabis dispensary in Rhode Island,” her bio read. “But Liz isn’t just a business powerhouse — she’s also a devoted stepmom to Miranda, Briana, and Skyla, balancing family, entrepreneurship, and her signature flair for style.”
Rulla Nehme Pontarelli
Courtesy of Rulla Nehme Pontarelli
Rulla “helms a financial empire as a Certified Financial Planner and Wealth Manager to some of the East Coast’s most distinguished families,” according to her bio, which noted that, “Rulla is married to prominent Rhode Island podiatrist, Brian, and together they juggle life with their two young children, Luca and Laila.”
The former Miss Rhode Island, Kelsey “keeps a full plate as one of the state’s top makeup artists,” a press release shared. “Kelsey has been in a 10-year relationship with one of Rhode Island’s most notable figures, enjoying the lap of luxury while keeping her social calendar full.”
Jo-Ellen Tiberi
Courtesy of Jo-Ellen Tiberi
The self-proclaimed town gossip “knows everyone and everything worth knowing in Cranston,” her bio noted. “As one of the top aesthetic practice development managers in the country, she juggles a busy career with family life alongside her high school sweetheart and husband, Gary, and their three kids — Gian, Jolie, and Gia.”
Dolores Catania
Courtesy of Dolores Catania
According to Bravo’s press release, “Rhode Island captured Dolores’s heart years ago, and she’s longed to return ever since. With her dear friend Liz McGraw living there – and a shared business project on the horizon – a sun-soaked, beach-filled summer is a natural fit for this Jersey girl.”
Meekness Lunga-Ayidu, Director Higher Education SSA, British Council, ‘on how African women can thrive within systems designed to advance opportunity and inclusion
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, 5 November 2025 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- Although access to higher education has improved, Sub Saharan Africa still has the lowest enrolment rate globally with only 9-10% compared to the global average of over 40%. While we have made some progress, we are still lagging. 60% of the young people who are not in education, employment or training are women. In as much as women’s participation in early stage and informal entrepreneurship across SSA now equals or even exceeds that of men, men are significantly more likely to own an established and growth-oriented business. Young women face significant additional barriers when attempting to access education or enter the labour market. Between 8 million to 11 million African youth will enter the labour market every year in the coming decades. Yet, only about 3 million new formal wage jobs are created yearly. Informal and self employment are becoming the norm. Action from governments and the private sector is required to close the gap between the increase in the working-age population and lagging job growth.
At the 16th Quadrennial General Conference of the Association of African Universities (AAU) in Rabat this year, the British Council presented groundbreaking research in collaboration with the African Network for Internationalisation of Education (ANIE) titled ‘Higher Education Gender Analysis: Access to Employability and Entrepreneurship Opportunities’. The research exposes systemic barriers across Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. The findings are sobering. Women in higher education still face discrimination, harassment, and exclusion from leadership positions. Gender policies, where they exist, remain poorly understood and rarely enforced. Female graduates face higher unemployment rates than their male counterparts, while socio-cultural norms continue to prioritise boys’ education, contributing to early marriages and dropouts.
The insights highlight the systemic challenges to advancing higher-education gender-responsive reforms in the four main countries, and chart a roadmap for higher education institutions, policymakers, funders, and partners to bridge persistent inequalities and develop enabling systems that could unlock sustainable gender inclusion in higher education. For example, entrepreneurship holds enormous promise for empowerment, yet a lack of start-up capital and support structures remains. By introducing post-graduation accelerator programmes that incorporate entrepreneurship training and seed funding for women, a challenge like this can be transformed into an opportunity for inclusive growth. This demonstrates the urgent need for systemic reforms that will drive innovation, employability, and inclusive growth, and achieve true gender equity in higher education.
The two proven models include programmes such as Innovation for African Universities (IAU) and Gender Equality Partnership grants that form part of the British Council Going Global Partnerships programme. These programmes offer scalable, evidence-based models that other institutions and development partners can replicate or adapt. Through multi-country initiatives, the IAU co-designs and implements projects that equip graduates, especially women, with market-relevant entrepreneurial skills and mindsets. Its approach blends industry-academia collaboration, start-up mentorship, and enterprise-focused curricula. By embedding gender-responsive teaching, strengthening institutional support for female entrepreneurs, and improving access to funding and networks, the IAU shows how higher education can drive economic transformation and support female students.
Gender Equality Partnerships grants foster cross-border collaboration by funding joint research, institutional partnerships, and policy dialogue that centre gender equity as a core value. Together, these initiatives form a practical, evidence-based blueprint for gender parity, turning research into action and offering adaptable frameworks that universities across Africa can implement.
The ‘Higher education gender analysis’ was commissioned under the latter programme, reflecting a clear commitment to embedding gender equity across all higher education initiatives. The study applied the Accountability for Gender Equality in Education (AGEE) framework to ensure its outcomes were evidence-based and intersectional analysis, addressing not only gender but also how it interacts with class, ethnicity, and geography. AGEE is a UNESCO-developed model that helps governments and institutions identify, monitor, and address gender inequalities in education through data-driven analysis, policy reform, and institutional accountability mechanisms.
And the evidence is clear. Systemic change is required and must be driven by three priorities: gender reforms that include robust anti-harassment procedures, gender-responsive policies and gender-sensitive student support services, such as childcare and flexible learning, amongst others; policy reforms that prioritise gender equity in higher education with affirmative action in admissions and faculty recruitment, targeted scholarships, and funding for female students and entrepreneurs; and higher education transformation that invests in digital skills and infrastructure and integrates entrepreneurship education across disciplines.
Higher education is more than access, it is a powerful lever for innovation, job creation, and economic transformation opportunities across sub-Saharan Africa. When business community including universities, governments, funders, and industry partners collectively take action to address gender disparities in higher education, we create a multiplier effect where women gain entrepreneurial skills, secure funding, access mentorship, and break cycles of inequality that have persisted for generations. The economic and social returns extend far beyond individual success stories to shape resilient, innovative societies.
A call for partnership depends on Africa’s future to unleashing the full potential of its people and now this is the moment for universities, governments, and industry partners to act decisively and scale proven models like the Innovation for African Universities and Going Global Partnerships to embed gender equity in policy and practice, and to champion women as the architects of Africa’s next chapter of growth. We cannot afford to leave half our talent behind. The British Council invites education leaders, policymakers, and funders to collaborate on systemic change that transforms access into empowerment and ambition into opportunity. This is the moment to champion women as the architects of Africa’s next chapter of growth based on proven models and frameworks with compelling evidence. Join the British Council in making gender-responsive higher education a reality across the continent.
The British Council builds connections, understanding, and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education, and the English language.
We work in two ways – directly with individuals to transform their lives and with governments and partners to make a bigger difference for the longer term, creating benefits for millions of people all over the world.
We help young people gain the skills, confidence, and connections they are looking for to realise their potential. We support youth to learn English, get a high-quality education, and gain internationally recognized qualifications. Our work in arts and culture stimulates creative expression and nurtures creative enterprise.
We are on the ground in over 20 African countries and deliver impact working with local institutions and partners.
The pan-African communications agency strengthens its West African footprint with anew local operation in Accra, deepening its ability to provide market insight andcommunications expertise in one of Africa’s most dynamic economies.
ACCRA, Ghana, 30 October 2025 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- African Media Agency (AMA), a leading independent pan-African communications and public relations firm with offices in New York, Abidjan, Durban, and local presence in 30 African markets, is proud to announce the launch of its on-the-ground operations in Ghana, marking another milestone in its mission to offer localized, insight-driven communication across the continent.
The move comes at a time when Ghana continues to assert itself as one of West Africa’s most stable, innovative, and forward-looking economies. According to the World Bank, Ghana’s GDP is projected to grow by 4.4% in 2025, driven by strong performance in services, agriculture, digital innovation, and renewable energy. The country has also become a rising hub for fintech, creative industries, and tech-enabled entrepreneurship, attracting regional and global investors eager to tap into its young, connected population.
Establishing operations in Accra enables AMA to provide clients with a deeper understanding of Ghana’s evolving markets, from consumer behavior and media trends to policy and innovation landscapes. Supported by teams in 30 African countries, AMA combines market intelligence with strategic communication to help organizations build meaningful presence and impact.
To lead this new chapter, AMA has appointed Angela Akua Asante as Senior Communications Consultant. This follows her fruitful collaboration with the agency since 2023 as an independent consultant on various pan-African health-related projects.
Ms. Asante is a highly experienced bilingual (French/English) Communications and Design Thinking Strategist who has led PR campaigns, content strategies, mediations, and media productions for the European Union and the Embassy of France in Ghana among others. Her extensive background includes working as the Ghana-based French-speaking correspondent for the BBC World Service’s BBC Afrique and covering four FIFA World Cup tournaments across men’s and women’s football.
With her deep understanding of Ghana’s media and business landscape, Angela will head client strategy, media engagement, and partnership development, ensuring that AMA delivers culturally resonant and impactful campaigns.
“Ghana has long been one of our most active markets: vibrant, entrepreneurial, and full of creative energy,” said Eloïne Barry, Founder and CEO of African Media Agency. “Our presence here strengthens our role as a partner for brands seeking to enter or expand across Africa. We go beyond communication, we provide the cultural fluency, networks, and insights needed to navigate complex markets and build sustainable trust.”
AMA’s Ghana office will provide the agency’s full suite of services — from strategic communication and media relations to market research, digital content, and event management.
African Media Agency (AMA) is one of the leading and most trusted independent pan-African communications firms, helping global and African organizations enter, grow, and thrive across the continent. By combining narrative design, strategic communication, and a deep understanding of Africa’s on-the-ground nuances, AMA enables clients to build trust, shape perception, and unlock sustainable market opportunities.
AMA operates through three complementary pillars: AMA Wire, its flagship pan-African press release distribution platform; AMA PR, its communications and advisory arm; and AMA Academy, a training initiative that equips journalists and media professionals with modern storytelling and reporting skills.
Over the past decade, AMA has delivered hundreds of high-impact campaigns for more than 150 clients, including some of the world’s largest corporations, development institutions, and African innovators. With local teams in 30 African countries and operational hubs in Abidjan, Johannesburg, and Durban, AMA stands as a trusted partner for organizations looking to connect authentically and operate effectively across Africa’s diverse markets.
