Dr. Jennifer Riria Champions Financial Power for Women at the 5th NALAFEM Summit

Echo Network Africa Foundation (ENAF) President/CEO Dr. Jennifer Riria joined women leaders and young activists at the 5th NALAFEM Summit in Nairobi to address a major challenge: making sure women in politics get the real financial support they need to lead. Dr. Riria serves as a Patron for NALAFEM (the Nala Feminist Collective, a movement bringing together young women leaders and experienced advocates across Africa). Speaking in a featured panel alongside former Nigerian Minister and World Bank Vice President Dr. Oby Ezekwesili under the theme “Power Meets Capital: When Women Back Women,” Dr. Riria shared lessons from her 35-year journey of helping women build wealth and lead.

Looking back at how far women have come, Dr. Riria pointed out that back in 1991, only 14 percent of Kenyan women had access to bank accounts, compared to almost all women today. While this is a massive win, she explained that having money to run a small business still hasn’t made it easy for women to afford running for political office. To fix this, ENAF created the Democracy Trust Fund, a special program that helps women candidates save, manage, and grow their own election funds so they can run strong campaigns without depending on unfair outside pressure.

The room shared a quiet moment of respect as attendees honored the late Hon. Phoebe Asiyo, a trailblazing Kenyan leader who mentored Dr. Riria when she first started helping women get bank loans. To close the session, Dr. Riria signed a commitment to keep backing young women through ENAF and the Jennifer Riria Foundation, before officially opening the summit with the strike of a gavel.

Watch the full panel discussion on YouTube