This year's Women's Expo Ghana will be held from March 8 to 10 at the Atlantic Mall in Accra, organisers have said. The 8th edition of the Women's Expo, intended to mark International Women's Day (IWD), is on the theme, 'Elevating Visibility of Businesses of Emerging Women Entrepreneurs and Empowering Women's Choices in Health', a statement sent to the Ghana News Agency said. In the spirit of International Women's Day, commemorated on March 8 worldwide, the event would place emphasis on celebrating not only the successes of the hard-working women entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses, but also the countless hours of hard work, the sacrifices made, and the challenges they have overcome, it explained. Women's Expo Ghana 2024 will be held in partnership with the VTF Programme, Network of Women Entrepreneurs (NETWET) and Invest in Africa (IIA) Ghana. The partnership is in line with the mission of the organisation to promote Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) by providing a common platform to sho wcase their enterprises through trade shows and exhibitions. The primary objective of the Expo is to afford these emerging women entrepreneurs an opportunity to create awareness and visibility for themselves and their businesses, network, as well as explore other emerging business openings. Nana Adwoa Kwegyir-Aggrey, the Event Director of Women's Expo said: 'We recognise the creativity and determination that have propelled these women to turn their dreams into reality to make a lasting impact on the business landscape. That is why we bring them together to celebrate them on International Women's Day.' Ms Linda Agyei, the Executive Director of the VTF Programme, lauded the organisers of the event adding: 'The VTF Programme considers the event not only as a perfect platform for exposure, confidence building and visibility for our NETWET members but for networking and forming strategic partnerships as well.' Ms Carol Annang, Country Director of Invest in Africa Ghana (IIA), commended Women's Expo Ghana for t heir foresight and continued support for women-owned SMEs. She underscored the fact that 'success comes through partnerships.' Activities outlined for the three-day event include; free health screening and medical review, free family planning and female reproductive health services, the statement said. Participants will also benefit from Discussion Circles on Selfcare and Women's Choices in Health, Family Planning and Female Reproductive Health Services, Digital and Social Media Marketing, Customer Service, Insurance for Small Businesses and Pension Planning for Women Entrepreneurs. This year's event is supported by Atlantic Mall, Bracebridge Consultancy, Karley Mettle Consult, Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) SSNIT Seed, Lydia, Secure, Ebony Condoms, DrugNet, Ghanaweb, MX24TV, PCGTV, Vibmedia and Nelsik Mall. Since its inception in 2015, the Women's Expo Ghana has hosted more than 1,000 women entrepreneurs and about 10,000 visitors. Source: Ghana News Agency Chairperson of the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA), Phyllis Difeto has acknowledged the need for more involvement by women within the maritime sector. Difeto, during the PMAESA Annual General Meeting taking place in Swakopmund on Tuesday, said that concerted efforts are required to encourage women in the maritime industry to take up crucial roles. 'PMAESA's adopted constitution outlines how to become a member of the organisation and how to participate, among other guidelines. It outlines the strategic objectives and the capacity creation and acquiring women into very critical positions between attempts,' she said. 'So in order for this dream to be realised, maritime organisations just need to make sure that they become associated with the mother board to enjoy these benefits while also realising the inclusion of women and bringing them along at meetings of this nature, which in turn bring about capacity development, among others,' she stressed. Namibia Ports Authority ( Namport) Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Kanime said ports in SADC are often listed as some of the main bottlenecks to the efficacy of trade flow, together with attendant prohibitive charges, thereby impacting the competitiveness of exports in international markets. Reasons for the bottlenecks, according to Kanime, range from poor management and planning, inadequate regulatory systems, old and insufficient equipment, and deficiencies in support infrastructure. 'With 16 out of Africa's 54 states landlocked, the impact of high port costs and competitiveness is even more acute and broader. We must hence jointly consider interventions and mechanisms which will streamline our processes not only in our ports but across the whole logistics value chain and reduce the costs of doing business through our ports and trade corridors so that we play our part towards intra-Africa trade, economic development, and continental integration,' he said. PMAESA was founded in 1973 during a forum of Transport Ministers hosted by t he United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. It provides a platform for stakeholders in the port and maritime transport sector in and around eastern and southern Africa for the exchange of best practices and information on various ports and maritime-related activities in line with its mandate. The organisation consists of 23 member countries. Source: The Namibia Press Agency The Assembly of People's Representatives (ARP) approved in a plenary session held on Tuesday afternoon the laws closing the state budgets for 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. During the plenary, MPs criticised the delay in approving these budgets, saying it would affect Tunisia's relations with donors, its rating by international rating agencies and investments. They went on to say that the adoption of laws closing budgets whose contents they did not know risked compromising them, and called for their predecessors to be held accountable and for the veil to be lifted on the expenditure made under these budgets. For them, the law on the closure of the State budget is one of the main instruments of control exercised by the Assembly, enabling it to obtain information on the management of public expenditure. For her part, Finance Minister Sihem Nemsia said that her ministry had submitted the bills concerned to Parliament within the set deadlines, noting that there had been a delay at parliamentary level. Regarding the bill to close the state budget for 2021, the minister pointed out that the delay in passing this legislation was due to the dissolution of the previous parliament. Nemsia noted that the adoption of the law on the closure of the budget does not mean the final closure of the file, nor does it mean the abandonment of legal proceedings against any perpetrator who has committed a crime or harmed the national community. She added that her department was currently working on draft laws to close the state budgets for 2021, 2022 and 2023. The minister also noted that the amendment of the Foreign Exchange Code would make it possible to overcome a number of difficulties faced by Tunisian and foreign investors, as well as Tunisian citizens in general. "This new code represents a revolution in this field, especially as the current foreign exchange code dates back to the 1970s," she said, believing that this text will meet the expectations of Tunisians.