New technologies and social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook provide huge opportunities for business women to market their enterprises and products, Duncan Muchangi, the Hellofood manager, has said.

"The difference is that today’s business woman has a lot of opportunities to market and grow her enterprise compared to her counterpart five years ago, thanks to social media tools to enable businesses to reach hundreds or thousands of potential customers online,” he said.

Muchangi was speaking during International Women’s Day celebrations for Kigali women entrepreneurs organised by Inkomoko Entrepreneur Development and Belay Rwanda in Nyarutarama on Tuesday.

It was held under the theme "Entrepreneurship in a digital world.” The event focused on how women can employ new technologies, especially social media marketing tools, mobile money services and e-commerce platforms to transform businesses in Rwanda.

The networking event was also aimed at showing women how technology is creating new opportunities for business growth.

Julienne Oyler, the Inkomoko Entrepreneur Development chief, said it is important to recognise the key role that women play in advancing business and technology in Rwanda.

"Technology is transforming business in every industry… Our work with over 100 entrepreneurs across the country has shown us that women are taking advantage of social media marketing and mobile payments to find new markets and reach new audiences,” Oyler said.

Lucy Mbabazi, a prominent business woman, challenged women to use social media sites like Facebook to build businesses and brands and not just for chatting with friends.

"While others use the media for negative influence, let us use it to build our brands,” Mbabazi, who is also a business leader for Visa Rwanda, said.

Sara Leedom, the Inkomoko managing director, advised women to adopt trends that are going to shape business for the coming decades, noting that technology is a business tool for the future, which women must embrace.

business@newtimes.co.rw