Since its establishment in 2019, the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Guyana (WCCIG) has been working to position itself as an influential voice for women-led businesses in Guyana. In this issue, the Stabroek Business talks with WCCIG President Kerri Gravesande-Bart about the Chamber’s journey and its accomplishments to date.
Stabroek Business: Based on what little we know the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry comprises a number of professional women with established businesses of their own. However, women’s businesses include market vending, snackette operating, and micro-businesses in the agro-processing sector among others. These are businesses that involve significant numbers of women. Are these women part of the Women’s Chamber family? If not, can you tell us if and how you plan to accommodate them? Can you also say whether you may have any current and ongoing initiatives designed to respond to their particular challenges?
Gravesande-Bart: The WCCIG caters for professional females, sole entrepreneurs, partnerships and corporate companies. The overall mission of the WCCIG is to promote the business, economic, and leadership development of women. A large part of our programmes will focus on training and development. This will provide opportunities for us to engage these sole entrepreneurs, to mentor and assist in structuring their bid for success and future growth. We have already started mentoring programmes through the Cherie Blair Foundation in the UK. So far, six members have been paired with international mentors.
Stabroek Business: Has the WCCIG officially notified the government and the various other business support organizations, like the Private Sector Commission, the Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), of its existence? And are you satisfied that the WCCIG now has the same level of official recognition as the various other business support organizations?
Gravesande-Bart: Yes of course, we have engaged with these organizations. In fact, the past president of the GCCI, Nicholas Boyer, spoke at our launch in Nov 2019. We met with the past chairman of the Private Sector Commission Gerry Gouviea and current Chairman Paul Cheong. We had the pleasure of having First Lady Arya Ali as the Keynote Speaker at the WCCIG Founders Dinner in 2020 at Parc Rayne. The WCCIG endeavors to be the force of influence in ensuring that women are included in key leadership and governance roles.
Stabroek Business: Banks and other lending agencies are, we assume, among your target partners. Have you been engaging these institutions and can you say whether or not you are satisfied with the responses that you have received?
Gravesande-Bart: The IADB was the first institution to offer to support our work. Through our partnership with them we will be able to help women-owned businesses in Guyana to improve access to more value chains. The WCCIG will play a key role as the local platform to realize three main components: Aspire, Activate and Accelerate. Aspire will use storytelling to highlight positives of women’s entrepreneurship. Activate will employ digital means to engage WSMEs while increasing the capacity of local partners who will have long-term access to the digital resources. Accelerate will provide accelerator experience and buyer match-making opportunities for WSMEs ready to integrate into value chains. The conversations have begun with other local and regional institutions. However there is still a lot of work left to be done.
Stabroek Business: Has the Women’s Chamber put any specific proposals to the government that are designed to significantly increase the level of state support for women-led businesses and if so what has been the response?
Gravesande-Bart: We have penned and hand-delivered two letters to the Vice President requesting an audience to discuss critical matters. We are informed that a meeting date will be scheduled soon. We look forward to this being one of the issues we address.
Stabroek Business: We do not know a great deal about the extent of the interest of women-led businesses in providing services that might be linked, directly or indirectly, to the oil and gas sector. Can you say whether the agenda of the Women’s Chamber encompasses the oil and gas industry and whether this is something that you have been probing?
Gravesande-Bart: The WCCIG supports women-owned and led business from all sectors. We have noted that, in the O&G Sector there has been specific effort in the bidding and procurement process to be more diverse and inclusive. Women-owned businesses are given an opportunity to participate.
Stabroek Business: Despite the fact that there are at least three high-profile business support organizations in Guyana, it is not generally believed that the development of women’s businesses is a key part of their respective agendas. In those circumstances does the Women’s Chamber see itself as needing to rise to that level where it can be seen as an equally important national voice for women’s businesses?
Gravesande-Bart: This is the very reason for the creation of the WCCIG. Since our launch in Nov 2019, we have partnered with several international institutions and organizations, IADB and Cherie Blair Foundation to name a few. We believe that our goals and objectives are in alignment with the SDGs and we have seen support from local partners and businesses.
Stabroek Business: There are a number of women’s organizations in areas such as fashion and beauty, the retail trade, the food business among others, that might be interested in becoming members of the Women’s Chamber. With so many different women’s businesses around do you consider it part of your mission to bring more of those businesses under the umbrella of the Women’s Chamber?
Gravesande-Bart: Women-owned and led businesses from all sectors and industries, from startups to large are welcome to join the WCCIG.
Please visit us at www.wcciguyana.com to register or call +592 632 0091 for information.
