CDB clearing entrepreneurial paths for women businesses in the region

With Caribbean governments having long been subjected to criticism for failing to actualize many of the undertakings they give on the accelerated advancement of the interests of women, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), through the She Trades Caribbean Hub, a Joint initiative with the International Trade Centre (ITC), will launch a new partnership aimed at strengthening North American market access for the region’s women entrepreneurs.

The CDB is aiming to deepen its relations with Caribshopper, an e-commerce platform that seeks to connect Caribbean businesses with global markets by “on-boarding members of the She Trades Hub in the Bank’s nineteen Borrowing Member Countries to afford them opportunities to sell their products via the digital marketplace.

The Caribshopper platform connects regional businesses to consumers in the United States and Canada through its logistical hubs in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

The arrangement currently features close to 10,000 Caribbean-made products from over 650 brands.

The SheTrades Caribbean Hub is CDB’s flagship resource centre for women- led businesses to access new markets, mentorship, networking and capacity building. Through this partnership, Caribbean women entrepreneurs who are members of the Hub will enter an established and reputed virtual space through which to conduct business, and receive logistics and in-market compliance support.

 Acting Director of Projects at CDB L. O’Reilly-Lewis says that “the Bank continues to explore innovative ways to build resilience and grow the private sector. The SheTrades Caribbean Hub is a major vehicle by which we are advancing the interest of women-led businesses and Micro Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises MSMEs, Oreilly-Lewis says, adding that access to the Caribshopper platform will increase market access opportunities available to SheTrades Caribbean Hub members. The partnership will also assist with the delivery of the Hub’s capacity building mandate while increasing trade and exports from Caribbean women- led MSMEs to larger markets.

Lisa Harding, Acting Head of the Private Sector Division at CDB, is quoted as saying that the Bank is seeking to emphasize the importance of the initiative. “We’re building on our existing relationship with Caribshopper and helping to connect women entrepreneurs with international consumers. It is a powerful and empowering opportunity to use a digital platform to facilitate women to reach otherwise untapped markets and to navigate persisting logistical and financial constraints,” Ms. Harding is quoted as saying.

Founder and CEO of Caribshoppers, Kadion Preston says that the companies thrilled “to work alongside the SheTrades Caribbean Hub. The partnership will be officially launched during a virtual event on Tuesday February 4.