The pandemic has shown us just how important it is to help small businesses in developing countries not just survive, but thrive,” Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director of the International Trade Center. COVID-19 and its lockdown restrictions significantly impacted Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) worldwide.
Cross-border trade has broad poverty and development ramifications, especially for low-skilled women in border areas. It contributes to income, provides jobs, and empowers women across Africa. Because women’s empowerment is
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is designated until 8 May 2021 for celebrating World Intellectual Property Day, 26 April 2021, which has as its theme, “SMEs: Taking your ideas to the market.” As part of this celebration, WIPO, with the support of the Ministry of Justice and Constitution Affairs of Uganda and GSWIM, organized a workshop on branding and product development where a group of women entrepreneurs finished with a resolve to use intellectual property (IP) for the growth of their businesses.
The month of March is dedicated to the celebration of women: to highlight their achievements and contributions to history and the contemporary world. International women’s day was celebrated on March 8th. Organizations and nations worldwide celebrated different activities by selecting a theme or topic they want to address. The theme for this year, 2021, is ‘Choose to challenge.’
The growth and success of women entrepreneurs businesses are significant factors that can drive profound change in the African economy. In Africa, more women than men choose to become entrepreneurs. Women make up 58 % of the continent’s self-employed population.
Agriculture should be encouraged and made desirable so that more African youths can choose to enter the industry, especially because Africa has fertile land for farming. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), about 874 million hectares of Africa’s lands are suitable for agriculture production
Electricity access has been identified as a significant problem across sub-Saharan Africa. A World Bank report notes that Africa has a 43 percent access rate to electricity, compared to a global access rate of 87 percent. The high cost and limited availability of power has increased the operating cost of small businesses, making operations expensive, and lowering these firms’ competitive ability
When women are empowered to fully participate in the economy, household income increases, businesses grow, and stronger economy emerges and endure,” Sean Cairncross, CEO, Millennium Challenge Corporation. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest female entrepreneurship rate globally, with approximately twenty-six percent of female adults engaged in entrepreneurial activity.
A report by GSMA states that “Women in low and middle-income countries often begin using mobile phones later than male members of the family and are less likely overall to own a mobile phone,” contributing to the high digital gender divide in the world. The digital gender divide is summarized by limited access and use of technology by women
The ability to go digital became a matter of the utmost importance as it was seen all over the world especially in advanced nations. Many MSMEs who demonstrated their ability to change their business model survived, while many others could not stay afloat. Digitalization could help MSMEs increase their revenue and customer base, transact at a distance, and improve operational efficiencies.
“empowering small businesses“
KilSah is a business support organization that provides training, mentoring, research,
and policy advisory services for the advancement of Micro, Small, and Medium-sized
Enterprises (MSMEs).
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