By Cherie Blair

WOMEN are drivers of economic growth. This is especially true in Guyana where economic transformation is proceeding at astounding rates. The 2022 Global Gender Gap Insight Report, published annually by the World Economic Forum, ranked Guyana 35th in the world for women’s economic participation, up from 53rd just one year earlier – a remarkable achievement.

I started the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women (CBFW) in 2008 to support women in low and middle-income countries to start, grow and sustain successful businesses so they can contribute to their economies and have a stronger voice in their societies. As I travel the world, I meet women with ideas and passion to start a business, but without the same opportunities and access to resources as their male counterparts. To date, we have reached 230,000 women and are just getting started.

Road to Growth, one of CBFW’s flagship programs, was piloted in 2015 in Nigeria. Since then, we developed a best-in-class program linking training, technology, mentoring and networking – all critical to ensuring women’s business success. This approach is proven to open doors to finance, markets, contacts and more, and it empowers women to create better futures for themselves and their families. We focus on building women’s business skills, financial literacy and confidence; equipping them with knowledge and skills to access capital; providing connections to financial institutions and peer entrepreneurs; and providing step-by-step guidance through the creation of a robust growth plan for their businesses. We have also brought the program to Guyana following great success in Nigeria.

We could not sustain this programme without the ExxonMobil Foundation, which has supported our work from the beginning. I was delighted to join our partners ExxonMobil and ActionINVEST Caribbean and others from the private sector as well as Her Excellency First Lady Arya Ali at the graduation of Road to Growth participants in Georgetown last month.

When COVID changed all our lives in 2020, we used the opportunity to think differently about how we deliver training and support, as well as how women could continue to access CBFW services. As a result, we rapidly pivoted our training delivery to entirely online, having previously used a “blended learning” model combining both online and in-person learning. We also updated content and expanded access to our micro-learning app, HerVenture, which features ten learning ‘tracks’ on a range of needs, including launching a business, product innovation and expanding market access. Based on a user’s input, the app suggests a personalised learning roadmap for each entrepreneur. To date, the HerVenture app has been downloaded and used by one in 25 women in Guyana.

I am so encouraged by the enthusiasm of the Road to Growth’s latest graduates. In Georgetown last month, I visited women businessowners like Dionne Graham and her delicious EcoGarden International Vegetarian Restaurant and Bibi Mobarkhali who runs the Triple S Zinc and Block Factory. They are excited about the new skills they have learned and are ensuring their businesses are not just surviving but thriving post-pandemic.

The same is true of Carlotta John, the owner of Children R Us. Carlotta’s daycare centre, which started with two children, was born from a passion for children’s development, and the Road to Growth programme enabled her to secure funds necessary to grow her business. Now, she knows the support she is able to give to children and working women will allow Guyana to flourish.

Because of women like Dionne, Bibi and Carlotta, I have faith in the future of Guyana and of women’s contributions to the country’s economic growth. Even as we have had to change many ways of doing business — individually and globally — at the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women we haven’t lost sight of a key fact: women drive economic growth and we are proud to support that inspirational growth.