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Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency in partnership with the International Trade Center has launched a business support directory for women entrepreneurs to enhance participation of women-owned businesses in international trade.
International Trade Centre is implementing this under the She Trades Commonwealth project, which aims to increase economic growth and job creation in Commonwealth countries by increasing participation of women-owned businesses and thereby positioning Commonwealth at the forefront of creating trade and investment opportunities for women.
SheTrades initiative aspires to connect three million women to markets by 2021 through rallying stakeholders around the world to work together on seven actions that address trade barriers and create greater opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
Since April 2018, the project has worked to develop the capacity of export-oriented women entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses in Kenya in the agribusiness, information technology and business process outsourcing, textiles & apparel and tourism sectors in partnership with Business Support Organisations and private sector actors as well as other sector-relevant stakeholders.
Last year, Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency supported this noble initiative by hosting 10 women exporters at the Virtual Macfrut Digital Fair in September 2020 in Rimini, Italy. Deals worth more than $2.1 million (KSh235,224,0000) were reached during the virtual fair.
“We are happy that even Covid-19 did not stop our Kenyan exporters from interacting with the world on the streets of Rimini and make sales,” We hope to increasingly partner in similar initiatives to expand our export pie in the global economy, said the Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency Chief Executive, Dr. Wilfred Marube.
As part of its project plan, She Trades Commonwealth has drafted a Kenyan-focused directory of Business Support Organizations and their relevant services targeted towards Small and Medium Enterprises, in particular Women-Owned Businesses. This directory will be hosted by the Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency as the anchor Business Support Organization for Kenya for continual updates and dissemination.