Women entrepreneurs urged to build partnerships to expand business scope
Mrs Mawuena Trebah, the Founder and Chief Business Strategist, Inspire Africa, has called on women entrepreneurs to buildnpartnerships to expand the scope and scale of their businesses, regardless of whatever stage they are.
She said businesses in recent times had increasingly thrived on partnerships and that every community had its own business culture, which determined the way business should be done.
“Remember to situate your ideas and plans about business within your cultural context because you may be surprised to find that your cultural context may not be that different from somebody else’s cultural viewpoints all the way across the Atlantic,” she said.
Mrs Trebah was speaking at the Maiden Volta Fair Women Entrepreneurs Summit in Ho as part of activities of the Volta Trade and Investment Fair.
She said it was advantageous to work with others to achieve common business goals, adding that “partnership does not mean that you must always agree with your partner.”
There was the need to identify opportunities for partnerships that would aid in reducing pressure on the businesses, assess where they could takemon a certain level of responsibility while the partner took the other for a more efficient business success, she noted.
Partnerships could expose businesses to innovative ideas and offer access to new markets for their products or services they never imagined were possible.
It was time they stopped lamenting about their business ideas being worked on after sharing with others “because that is the reality of being an entrepreneur”, she added.
Mrs Trebah admonished them to begin to explore opportunities under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and think aggressively about how to take hold of that within the Volta Region, Ghana, and Africa as a whole.
She urged them to stay humble to be lifelong learners, conduct postmortem on businesses and embrace technology.
Dr Mrs Grace Amey-Obeng, the Founder and CEO of FC Group of Companies, said women entrepreneurs needed to take up the challenge,
understand the issues and work to leave a mark in the sands of time.
Products and services across Africa presented an array of opportunities and they must take advantage of those to excel.
She touched on gender inequality, limited access to financing and the lack of supportive infrastructure as some of the barriers, which prevented women entrepreneurs from fully participating in international trade and realising their export ambitions.
Dr Amey-Obeng said there was the need to collectively create an enabling environment to address the specific needs of women entrepreneurs.
“Governments, policymakers and industry leaders must prioritise gender responsive policies and initiatives such as providing access to affordable financing, tailored training programmes and mentorship opportunities.”
Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, the Volta Regional Minister, said the summit offered opportunities on how to improve what the women entrepreneurs were already embarking on in the region.
Those opportunities would enhance the economic development of the region while promoting tourism as part of efforts to leave better legacy for the future generation.
Mr Dela Gadzanku, the Volta, Oti, and Eastern Regional Chairman of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), said 2023 was the year of
accelerating the AfCFTA where the women and youth were at the centre.
The region was poised to playing a significant role in taking full advantage of the Area.
The summit was on the theme: “Navigating new frontiers, Women Entrepreneurs and the opportunities of AfCFTA”.