The UK is boosting support to female entrepreneurs in Africa, helping them overcome barriers to starting businesses and connecting them to global market.

Africa has the highest concentration of female entrepreneurs, accounting for almost a third of all businesses on the continent. Despite this, their contribution to the economy remains low. Yet, it is clear that supporting women-owned businesses to participate in global trade will help drive economic growth and lift millions out of poverty in the African continent.

Creating more opportunities for women to work could add $12 trillion (or 11%) to the value of the global economy by 2025.Enabling women to play an equal role in the economy is essential to sustained economic growth. According to the McKinsey Global Institute report, reduction of gender inequality will boost African economies by $316 billion over the coming years. Creating more opportunities for women to work could add $12 trillion (or 11%) to the value of the global economy by 2025.

Unfortunately, many African women are still facing barriers to growing their businesses. For example, almost two thirds of women in Sub-Sahara Africa do not have bank accounts. Work with governments in African countries is necessary to develop tailored gender-inclusive trade policies.

SheTrades is an initiative of the International Trade Centre (ITC), a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. The £3.5 million of UK aid announced ahead of the first ever UK-African Investment Summit is for women’s economic empowerment to extend DFID’s SheTrades Commonwealth work.

SheTrades aims to empower women in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya to grow their businesses and start trading internationally. The programme will enable female entrepreneurs to secure more investment through specialist business training and help create potential investment and development partnerships for women entrepreneurs. Up to 3000 new jobs can be created, helping reduce inequality in the workplace.

“When women are economically empowered, their whole community benefits.” – Alok Sharma“When women are economically empowered, their whole community benefits,” said International Development Secretary Alok Sharma. “Africa’s full potential can only be realised if the energy and ideas of the whole population are unleashed. She Trades is an important step towards achieving that.”

In countries where SheTrades is already working, it has generated over £18 million of revenue. So far, over 2,800 women entrepreneurs have received skills-based training, tailored business advice and mentoring to help them manage and promote their businesses better.

Studio Badge and Botlab are two companies that have benefited from participating in the programme. Through SheTrades, Accra-based Studio Badge has received up to 18 wholesale orders from global buyers interested in selling Ghanaian designer home décor products. Nairobi-based Botlab, providing professional training in the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and business intelligence, has secured over $38,000 in overall trade leads and gained access to new markets. They were also awarded the Most Outstanding Company at the East Africa Com Expo 2019.

Image by Jono Erasmus / Adobe Stock

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