THE Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry Guyana (WCCIG), on Wednesday, launched the WE3A Strengthening Women Entrepreneurs in Value Chains project at the Cara Lodge, Georgetown.

Guyana is one of the six beneficiaries of the programme, a multi-country initiative currently offered in six Central and South American Countries. The three-year programme is a joint partnership with the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (WeFi) and IDB Lab.

It aims to strengthen women-led/owned Small and Medium Enterprises (WSMEs) in Central and South American Countries by enabling value chain integration (creating strong business alliances/partnerships that offer WSMEs end-to-end/holistic services).

WE3A is founded on three core programme components: Aspire, Activate and Accelerate. Under these components, participants will gain access to high-quality training materials and resources through the DreamBuilder platform. These include training on value chain integration and adaptation to COVID-19 Market conditions and potential partnership opportunities with WEConnect International that can add to their value chain.

Additionally participants will be exposed to network-building opportunities. The first cohort of participants will consist of 60 early-stage business owners who were selected from a call for applications issued by the WCCIG in November 2021.

Wednesday’s launch saw the attendance by the British High Commissioner, Jane Miller, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Tourism and Commerce, the Thunderbird School of Global Management, the IDB and other key stakeholders. During her remarks to the audience, the President of the WCCIG, Rowena Elliot, lauded the initiative and impressed on its importance, particularly regarding its ability to foster growth, advancement and empowerment for Guyanese women, which is one of the mandates of the WCCIG. “This project means a lot to the Chamber because it is something that we believe will propel women; it will support women and push women forward as it relates to entrepreneurship and women in business,” Elliot said.

Over the next six months, the first cohort of participants will undertake digital, self-paced capacity building courses related to value chain integration. Women-owned businesses in Guyana can access the benefits of the WE3A programme by answering a call for applications by the WCCIG. The second call for applications will be issued in October 2022.