Gulf African Bank (GAB) has embarked on an exciting and innovative journey in partnership with UNWomen to open up business opportunities for Women-Owned Businesses (WOBs) in their supply chain.
GAB seeks to be a leader in promoting supplier diversity and inclusion under the Annisaa program, through Women’s Entrepreneurship and Networking Workshops (WENW). Annisaa is a women-specific program meant to Empower, Educate and Protect that which matters to women most. It offers unique and innovative financial products designed specifically for women.
GAB together with UNWomen held a two-day conference in Nairobi to promote supplier diversity and inclusion, an initiative which was aimed at raising awareness on procurement opportunities and access to trade finance as well as enhancing the procurement readiness for WOBs in Nairobi and the rest of the country.
The event brought together WOBs seeking to gain practical skills in submitting responsive bids and network amongst themselves. The awareness raising and training aimed at ensuring that WOBs also benefit from GAB’s unsecured trade finance products. Some of the products that GAB offers include unsecured LPO financing up to 20 million for those with prior performance history and up to 3 million unsecured LPO business for starters
During the workshop, participants expressed interest in doing business with Gulf African Bank and were trained on eligibility requirements and other business related skills.
Speaking during the official opening, Mr. Abdalla Abdulkhalik, Managing Director Gulf African Bank said that the bank was committed to champion principle 5 of the Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs).
“We have embarked on this exciting and innovative journey in partnership with UNWomen, so as to become the leader in providing procurement opportunities in the private sector and inspire others to follow our example,” Said Mr. Abdulkhalik.
Representing UN Women Kenya Country Office, Ms. Karin Fueg, the institution’s Deputy Country Director commended the GAB for its leadership, commitment and dedication towards the economic empowerment of women using the Women Empowerment Principles as a framework.
On the other hand, Ms. Banu Khan the UN Women Program Analyst for Women’s Economic Empowerment emphasized the need to continuously enhance the capacity of WOBs so that they can participate and benefit fully from economic opportunities open to them.
The 2-day program included a panel discussion on sourcing from women. The session’s panelists comprised of experts from various sectors such as entrepreneurship, Trade Finance, Taxation, and Procurement.
They included Mumina Bonaya, Immediate former Chair, Women Enterprise Fund Advisory Board, Wanjiro Gathira, Immediate Chairperson, Uwezo Fund, and Ms. Najma Jabri, the Head of Women Banking at GAB.