Women traders to market products on new Commonwealth platform

The International Trade Centre (ITC) has launched a new online platform that will allow women traders to market products in the Commonwealth countries.

The directory has been produced under the She Trades project and will be hosted by the Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (Keproba).

The platform enables women-owned businesses to market their wares globally where ITC will facilitate networking of small and medium enterprises.

“We hope to increasingly partner in similar initiatives to expand our export pie in the global economy,” said Keproba chief executive Wilfred Marube.

The project aims to increase economic growth and job creation in Commonwealth countries by increasing the participation of women-owned businesses, positioning the Commonwealth to create trade and investment opportunities for women.

The She Trades initiative that goes live on February 25 and brings together three million women onto one e-platform is aimed at enhancing exports by local women-owned businesses.

Participating businesses include agribusiness, information technology and business process outsourcing, textiles and apparel as well as tourism sectors.

In September last year, a group of SheTrades women partners participated in the virtual Macfrut digital fair in Rimini, Italy, where they signed deals worth Sh235 million.

Dr Marube said the directory contains contacts of business support organisations indicating relevant services offered that enable SMEs to participate in export business. The development builds on the ongoing conservation that Kenya should have a single portal for all export-bound products.