Bridgetown,
BARBADOS, June 11, 2019 Nineteen Caribbean female
entrepreneurs have successfully completed the WE-Xport Programme, an
initiative geared at helping them to start exporting or to increase
exports of their products and services.

Organized by the
Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) in cooperation
with the European Union, WE-Xport commenced in March 2018 and
climaxed with a closing ceremony on Friday, June 7, 2019, at the
Hilton Barbados Resort.

“We believe that this
WE-Xport programme has been a tremendous success,” Mr. Zamani
Moodie, Market Intelligence Advisor at Caribbean Export said on
behalf of Ms. Cecile Humphrey, Chairperson of the Board of the
Directors.

“Caribbean Export
understands the complexed challenges faced by regional firms,
particularly those owned by women.” A study by the Women’s
Entrepreneurial Venture Scope, funded by the Multilateral Investment
Fund on doing business, ranks many Caribbean countries at the bottom
of the list for female entrepreneurship.

“Access to finance and
women’s business skill capacity are identified amongst the reasons
for this low ranking. Against this backdrop, the Caribbean Export
Development Agency developed a special programme called WE-Xport to
assist women entrepreneurs in the region,” he explained.

In addition, a study by
infoDev, (“Profiling Caribbean Women Entrepreneurs: Business
Environment, Sectoral Constraints and Programming Lessons”) draws
attention to the state of women-owned businesses in the Caribbean.
The study shows that these businesses have little to no employees,
are concentrated in low growth sectors and have difficulty accessing
finance. Other challenges are their lack of self-confidence and
women’s fear of failure in their businesses. Women also struggle
with work life balance because many are primary caregivers.

Mr. Moodie further
outlined that the objectives of WE-Xport were to build capacity
amongst women-owned enterprises as well as to access alternative
sources of funding. It also aimed to provide capacity building tools
to help the entrepreneurs improve their international competitiveness
and increase penetration in new markets.

Additionally, the
WE-Xport programme sought to advocate for the empowerment of female
entrepreneurs by strengthening their network and by creating
awareness amongst business support organizations, development
partners and stakeholders.

Over the year
participants benefited from technical assistance, finance workshops,
online business training, a personal business coach and access to
grant funding.

The entrepreneurs had the
opportunity to showcase their products and services to regional and
international buyers at a Buyers’ Programme organized by the
Barbados Investment and Development Corporation and the Caribbean
Export. They also got the chance to sell and display goods at BMEX,
Barbados’ largest manufacturing expo.

“We hope that you had a
rewarding experience and had obtain tangible benefits that you will
continue to use to enhance the competitiveness of your businesses. We
wish tremendous success to you,” Mr. Moodie said.

He also thanked the
European Union (EU), the Caribbean Development Bank, the German
International Corporation and UN Women for partnering with Caribbean
Export on the programme.

Ms. Celine Anselme,
Programme Manager in the delegation of the EU to Barbados, the
Eastern Caribbean, the OECS and CARICOM/CARIFORUM, described WE-Xport
as “innovative”.

Noting that the EU
supported the important role that private sector played in generating
employment and economic growth within the region, she said the EU had
been working with Caribbean Export for approximately 20 years.

She added that since 2017
the EU had been running a US $30 million private sector development
programme which is being implemented by Caribbean Export. It will end
in 2021.

“WE-Xport is one of the
many successful activities being implemented. WE-Xport is not just
any initiative, it is innovative. It is the first women only
initiative designed within Caribbean Export to enhance the export
capacities of women-owned enterprises.

“WE-Xport got off the
ground for two critical reasons. The first was a need to address the
fact that women-owned enterprises in the Caribbean are concentrated
in saturated sectors thereby making them difficult to grow. Second,
research has shown that in the Caribbean, women’s participation in
self-employment is lower than their male counterparts, and when
self-employed, women are more likely to operate at the micro level
with sometimes no employees,” she explained.

Ms. Anselme said the EU
regarded women’s empowerment as a matter of human rights, democracy
and good governance and argued that it makes good economic sense.

“Women normally control
the house provisions and the financial decisions for their families
and by extension, women are a significant pool of consumers and
clients.”

Minister in the Ministry
of Foreign Trade in Barbados, Sandra Husbands told the WE-Xport
entrepreneurs that they played an important role in transforming
their countries’ economies.

“The Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) of your country needs you. While you may think your
business is small, while you may think you are struggling… every
single penny that you turn over in your business contributes to the
GDP of your country. Therefore, what you do every day is not only
important to you and your family, it is important to your country.”

Minister Husbands told
participants it was critical to look beyond their
country to achieve true growth and pointed out that the
Barbadian government was encouraging the local business community to
explore markets in Guyana, Suriname and Panama.

Taribba do Nacimento from
St. Lucia, who owns the designer handmade bag company, Meme Bete,
said the WE-Xport programme was very beneficial.

“St. Lucia has a
population of 180,000 people, if I do not export my business cannot
survive. I am not selling fish, I am not selling food. There are so
only many handbags a local lady can and will buy.

“I am not selling a
need, I am selling a want in an affordable luxury market with lots
competition. The WE-Xport programme allowed me to finally set up my
website. I was grateful to have a business coach who worked in
fashion and understood the industry,” Ms. do Nacimento said.

Mrs. Grace Foster-Reid,
owner of EcoFarms in Jamaica, an enterprise which produces organic
honey and a range of honey by-products, also praised the WE-Xport
Programme. Through the initiative, she secured a deal to supply
honey to the international coffee franchise Starbucks.

She thanked her coach for
helping her “to take the Starbucks order from 95 per cent to 100
per cent”. However, she said the highlight of her experience was
forming a sisterhood with the other women.

“I thought I was coming
for information about financing and mentorship, but the relations
were fabulous. Immediately I felt like I was with sisters.
Entrepreneurship is a lonely place. On Friday evening, everybody is
worried about how to pay their workers. Right away I had a family,
women with whom I could share and be vulnerable with.”

Observing they were the
first group to participate in the initiative she appealed to
Caribbean Export to continue the WE-Xport programme given the
benefits derived.

“This should not be the
last experience, there are many other women in the Caribbean who
could benefit from this,” Mrs. Foster-Reid emphasized. (Shamkoe
Pilé/Caribbean Export)

#END#

About
Caribbean Export

Caribbean
Export is a regional export development and trade and investment
promotion organisation of the Forum of Caribbean States (CARIFORUM)
currently executing the Regional Private Sector Programme (RPSDP)
funded by the European Union under the 11th
European Development Fund (EDF) Caribbean Export’s mission is to
increase the competitiveness of Caribbean countries by providing
quality export development and trade and investment promotion
services through effective programme execution and strategic
alliances.

More
information about Caribbean Export can be found at
www.carib-export.com.
Contact: JoEllen Laryea, PR and Communications, Caribbean Export
Development Agency, Tel: +1(246) 436-0578, Fax: +1(246) 436-9999,
Email: jlaryea@carib-export.com