Saudi Arabia on Saturday (Feb 23) named a princess as its first woman ambassador to the United States, a key appointment as the fallout over journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder tests relations between the allies. Princess Rima bint Bandar replaced Prince Khalid bin Salman, the younger brother of the powerful crown prince who was appointed Vice Defence Minister in a flurry of late-night royal decrees announced on State media. The reshuffle comes as Saudi Arabia seeks to quell an international outcry over Khashoggi’s murder last October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which strained relations with its key ally Washington. After initially denying they knew anything of Khashoggi’s disappearance, the kingdom finally acknowledged that Saudi agents killed him inside the consulate, but described it as a rogue operation. Princess Rima faces hostile US lawmakers who have threatened to take tough action against Saudi Arabia over the brutal killing amid claims that…

Billion Dollar Fund for Women, a global initiative that aims to increase investment in women-founded companies, has arrived in Canada to recruit local venture firms. The launch was announced by Lally Rementilla, the fund’s Canada lead and president of Quantius, a Toronto intellectual-property lender and one of the fund’s early supporters. Rementilla told PE Hub Canada that the fund is looking to spread awareness in Canada about the gender financing gap. It also offers a plan of action involving pledges by VC firms to invest a portion of their capital in tech startups created by female entrepreneurs. Established in 2018 at the annual meetings of the IMF/World Bank, Billion Dollar Fund asks for pledges from VC firms, typically ranging $1 million to $100 million, with the goal of reaching US$1 billion in all. The goal itself is nominal, as pledges essentially commit investors to deploying the amounts independently by financing…

Zain Group, a leading digital lifestyle provider in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, has introduced one of the most progressive and innovative human resources policies in the region, providing female employees who become new mothers with four months of paid maternity leave, with a flexible schedule for returning to work. This restructured leave policy, which falls under the Human Resources Policy Transformation theme, will be rolled out as a group-wide initiative ensuring a unified approach to the program. The new policy soon follows the creation of a new senior position within the organization, namely Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer, to drive Empowerment initiatives that define, enhance and continue to cultivate an equitable work environment within all Zain operations. The introduction of flexible working models has also been designed including six-hour work weeks for mothers with children up to four years old and an optional compressed working week enabling…

The U.K. development finance institution CDC is committing £1.6 million to TheBoardroom Africa to assist in doubling the number of women occupying company board seats in Africa by 2028. The representation of women on company boards on Africa is disproportionately low. In Africa, 14% of company board seats are occupied by women, compared to 15% globally, according to the non-profit Catalyst. Ghanaian entrepreneur Marcia Ashong founded TheBoardroom, or TBR, in 2016 to foster greater representation of women in African businesses through a network of peer-endorsed female candidates. It then helps connect companies and organizations with its candidates. Some of its recent placements include CDC portfolio organizations like MedAccess and the Africa Food Security Fund. CDC’s Jen Braswell said TBR’s help to the CDC in finding “outstanding candidates for our portfolio that we would not have otherwise found” was a key reason for the investment. The funding was committed from a technical assistance program…

By John Chola ZAMBIA has finally launched the global Vision Zero campaign, a process aimed at building a culture of prevention of occupational accidents that integrates safety, health and wellness. Minister of Labour and Social Security Joyce Simukoko told hundreds of delegates from around the globe and within Zambia gathered in Livingstone for the official launch that the global Vision Zero campaign was premised on the belief that all occupational accidents and diseases are preventable. Simukoko said the campaign resonates well with the policies of the Government of Zambia that seek to address occupational safety and health at work places across the country. In a speech read for her by Ministry of Labour and Social Security Permanent Secretary Barnaby Mulenga on Friday December 14, 2018, Simukoko noted that occupational accidents and diseases, present colossal social and economic burdens to enterprises in the local and global economy. She added that the…