How women-led enterprises can ride on partnerships to scale up
Kenyan women-owned businesses need to adequately prepare for AfCFTA by building cross-border and intra-regional investment partnerships and networks across the continent to take advantage of the trade pact.
It is often said that ‘if you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, go together’. It is also argued that no economy can achieve its full potential without the participation of women.
African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have thrived because of a network of social-cultural support among women, which includes pooling resources through ‘chamas’, sharing ideas, and partnering to increase impact.
If women-owned enterprises are to expand to national, continental, and even global levels, these networks must transcend local boundaries and create opportunities to connect women throughout African marketplaces.
A woman in, say, Lodwar or Isiolo, given the right information and setting to discuss ideas with her peers, is empowered to broaden her world to limitless possibilities.
She can dream big and pursue her goals with tenacity and courage. Immense opportunities for African women entrepreneurs are about to open up thanks to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
This trade pact introduces many attendant benefits, including expanded markets, reduction in trade barriers, market access expansion, cost cuts as tariffs on goods exchanged between African countries are gradually phased out, and the assurance of removal of barriers like lengthy customs procedures and licensing requirements.
As such, Kenyan women-owned businesses need to adequately prepare for AfCFTA by building cross-border and intra-regional investment partnerships and networks across the continent to take advantage of the trade pact.
As bankers, we witness customers connect across our network infrastructure and create new growth stories all the time. We believe financial institutions can offer the nodes that will link trade and enterprise across the continent.
As a case in point, during the recent Absa InspireMe Conference in Nairobi, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and Absa Bank Kenya brought together women entrepreneurs from different hubs across Africa to share knowledge and experiences of their business growth journeys and showcase some of their products and services to new markets.
Through these interactions, we have seen local businesses get exposure to information that has proved invaluable in the pursuit of accessing overseas markets, like regulations, clearance, quality and safety standards within different markets, to enable them to benefit from such opportunities to grow their businesses.
Looking ahead, for these women-led businesses to achieve their full potential, they will need to continually embrace partnerships and collaborations.
For example, we have witnessed traditional alliances and collaborations where two businesses offering complementary services come together to give customers better value. It becomes a game-changer when a business forges collaboration with institutions that provide them with a platform to transform and grow.
For instance, it has been proven that businesses that forge partnerships with financial institutions through business clubs, trade associations and strategic alliances have a better success rate than those operating in silos.
Partnerships form a key ingredient that allows businesses to leverage additional strength, resources and networks to achieve growth and success of any business venture.
