Asha Mweru Mbowu, Co-founder of WomenWork, a network of professional female executives and business owners across Africa, has urged Ghanaians to support entrepreneurs, particularly women in the country by patronizing their goods and services.
According to Ms. Mweru, such a measure would ultimately encourage small businesses to grow and support economic development. This, she said on the sidelines of the closing ceremony of a four-month Catapult pilot training programme in Accra dubbed ‘The First Capstone Day’
The Catapult pilot programme is being implemented in Kenya and Ghana by the WomenWork with support from Argidius Foundation and is aimed at creating access to networks and providing technical support skills to ensure a higher success rate in the businesses of the beneficiaries of the programme.
At the end of their training, altogether, four women entrepreneurs were presented with certificates. They included; Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Isabella Healthcare Services; Naana Akyaa Asante, Creative Director and Owner of Bello Edu – an organization for women’s clothing; Alima Bello, Founder of Wonfliki – a firm that provides agricultural drone services and data; Hillary Adare; and Asha Bello; the Founder of Checky Monkey – a child after school centre.
Ms. Mweru, while encouraging women entrepreneurs to be innovative and produce quality goods and services, also entreated government, investors and other stakeholders to create an enabling environment for the growth of small businesses.
“What are investors and government doing? What are policy makers doing? Different people must support entrepreneurs at different levels and in different ways. If you support only the big businesses what happens to the small ones?”
Asha Mweru
The Co-founder of WomenWork, moreover, encouraged people to be creative and innovative to solve their own problems, stressing that:
“If you see some rubbish somewhere try to collect it but do it in a cheaper, faster way.”
Asha Mweru
Building a circular economy through patronization of goods and services
Patronizing goods and services in the country, Ms. Mweru indicated, will equally create what she described as a “circular economy” where resources are gradually distributed among Ghanaians themselves thereby boosting the local economy.
She noted that in all there were six women who were trained under the Catapult programme in Ghana but only four were presented with certificates at the event.
These women, she pointed out have therefore become part of the WomenWork Network across Africa, as they will work with over 5,000 women who are also in different professions.
WomenWork she noted, has trained over 600 women in digital skills and reached over 65,000 women-led micro businesses in Kenya.
The four trainees while receiving their certificates, expressed gratitude to the organizers for the opportunity offered them to grow their respective businesses.
According to them, they had a good learning experience and pledged to leverage on the skills acquired to support other women to grow their businesses across the continent.
The Capstone Day was an event organized by WomenWork for Catapult programme trainees after completion of their training to create a platform for them to introduce their new developed products or services to a group of potential strategic partners, financiers, investors and business advisors for support.
One of the partners that graced the event was an Actress and Television hostess, Anita Erskine, who is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Anita Erskine Media, a boutique content production, and distribution firm.
Co-founded in Kenya with Pan-African ambition by Isis Nyong’o and Asha Mweru, WomenWork is focused on the advancement of African women through digital communities, skill enhancement, and access to capital and opportunities to improve their chances of success in their respective businesses.
Currently, the organization has trained more than 2,500 women business owners in East Africa. It is a community of over 5,000 ambitious female professionals who are focused on the advancement of African women through digital communities, skill enhancement, and access to capital to improve their chances of success.
