Women-owned businesses in Guyana receive limited access to financial products and services - Study reveals

Resultsofarecent s t u d y undertaken by WEConnect International reveal that women-owned businesses in Guyana receive limited access to financial products and services.

T h e s t u d y w a s conducted in six countries, includingGuyana,aspartof the WE3AProject currently beingrolledoutnationally

W E C o n n e c t International is a partner of the project and works to connect women-owned businesses to qualified buyers around the world. The WE3A Project is an initiative aimed at strengthening womenowned businesses and fostering their participation in corporate supply chains.

The name WE3A derives from the initials Women Entrepreneurs and the 3A refer to the three pillars of theproject:womenbusiness owners/leaderswhoAspire, ActivateandAccelerate.

The study showed that despite its harsh effects on small and medium businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic has also opened new opportunities for growth and expansion into new business areas and commercialization formats. The study focused on the challenges and needs women-owned businesses face in Guyana, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Ecuador, to participate in global supply chains.

According to the NGO, today women own approximately 30% of businesses worldwide but receive only 1% of public procurement and corporate spend. For Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

Lab and the World Bank’s We-Fi, financial supporters of the WE3A project, it is crucial in the region to empower women-owned businesses(WOBs)tofoster nationaldevelopment.

It was stated that in Guyana, the two main challenges for WOBs are restricted access to capital funds for business projects and lack of training and education on business management. On the other hand, the most pressing needs are linked to the challenges.Itwasexplained thatWOBsrequirefinancial productsandserviceswhich are designed for the scale andtypeoftheirbusinesses. They also need specific capacity building and training, which considers the specific needs, interests and peculiarities of women entrepreneurs and business womeninGuyanaandmore accelerators and incubators to strengthen their businesses would also be welcome.

It was stated that the mainopportunitiesareinthe hospitality sector and the export sector mainly horticultural production, handcrafts and processed foods.Intheoilsector,most of the opportunities are in provision of indirect services, like accounting, services for expatriates or events (organization, catering, etc.). Notably, WeConnect International was hired by the project’s implementing institution, needs WOBs face, which is vitalfortheWE3AProjectto provide a better-suited training and networking events, as well as to inform the project’s efforts to increase awareness and sensitize corporate buyers array of opportunities for furthertrainingaswellasfor n e t w o r k i n g w i t h corporations and other WOBaroundtheworld.

About WEConnect

International

W E C o n n e c t International is a nonprofit global organization that facilitate networking between large corporations, multilateral organizations, and public institutions with qualified women-owned businesses around the world. It works with over 180 organizations that togetherrepresentmorethan USD $3 billion in annual purchase power, that have committed to having more diverseandinclusivesupply chains,byallowingwomenownedbusinessesfromover 130 countries to bid WEConnect International identifies,train,registerina globaldatabaseofmorethan 16,000businessesownedby women, and provides the Women-Owned Business certification to those companies that fulfill the international standard of at least 51% of ownership by one or more women WEConnect International hascertifiedWOBsinmore than 50 countries. These countriesenglobemorethan 70% of the world p o p u l a t i o n https://weconnectinternati onal.org/.

Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University, to conductecosystemmapping researchandsurveysamong different stakeholders to understand the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has hadonWOBs.

The ecosystem mapping researchhadseveralphases: documentation, stakeholder mapping including WOBs, large private corporations, and business support organizations (BSOs), stakeholder consultations and roundtables It was noted that this way it was possible to maximize the amountofdatacollectedand toverifyit.

T h e C O V I D - 1 9 pandemic had a negative impact on most WOBs surveyed in 2021, mostly due to a sharp decrease in sales.Thesituationpersisted ayearlater,accordingtothe resultsfromthe2022survey

The results from the ecosystem mapping and the COVID-19 surveys provide more than an overview of Guyana’s market – it also provides an understanding abouttherealchallengesand andotherstakeholdersabout the importance of empowering WOBs and promoting their access to globalprocurementchains.

The NGO also quoted Nelson Mandela saying, “If you want to change the world,helpwomen.”

It was explained that women-owned businesses confront many challenges. As such, it was stated that this is why the WE3A Projectisofferingtrainingto close the existing gaps that prevent them from participating in global markets In order to strengthen the network of women entrepreneurs, the project offers free r e g i s t r a t i o n i n t o WECommunity, part of WeConnect, which opens opportunities for WOBs to be seen and considered by large corporations Additionally, to those business women who graduate from the Accelerate component, the project offers to be certified atnocostforthefirstyearas WOB by WEConnect