Kenyan Women Entrepreneurs to Access International Markets

Kenyan women entrepreneurs are set to benefit from more access to international markets after the International Trade Centre (ITC) launched the Kenya chapter of SheTrades in the Commonwealth.

A dedicated project of ITC’s global SheTrades initiative, the SheTrades in the Commonwealth project aims to drive increased trade, productivity and competitiveness for women entrepreneurs and women-owned companies to ensure that they play an active role in international trade.

SheTrades in the Commonwealth Kenya will address numerous challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, including limited access to market opportunities and lack of guidance from business support organizations.

‘Through SheTrades in the Commonwealth, we aim to ensure that Kenyan women play a more active role in trade and are enabled to reap greater rewards from the economic benefits of trade.’ said Nicholas Schlaepfer, Senior Programme Officer at ITC’s Women and Trade Programme.

Through intensive training and mentoring activities, the goal is to strengthen the capacities of 3,000 women-owned businesses with a view to generating sales worth £28 million ($38m) by 2020.

Officially launched in April and funded by United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), SheTrades in the Commonwealth was endorsed UK Prime Minister Theresa May when she opened Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) in London.

The SheTrades in the Commonwealth project will provide governments with better tools and information to implement gender-responsive policies and share best practices.

Over a two-year period, ITC will initially work to increase the competitiveness of women entrepreneurs in the agriculture, apparel and services sectors in four Commonwealth focus countries: Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria