Think Creative - Issue 7

West Africa Trade Hub Launch

Right: Creative leadership stands with U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard (center right). After the event, Creative hosted a dinner for business leaders to learn more about the Trade Hub. Bottom left: An event attendee holds his company’s signature product, a nutrition-packed peanut snack he hopes to make more popular on the market. Bottom right: Members of the Trade Hub team from Abuja pose for a group photo before the launch.

small farmers from scaling up and have kept the country reliant primarily on exports to feed its population. “Only 6 percent [of the profit] goes back to the farmer, so the farmer farms in vain,” said Gover- nor Ayade. “So we believe that this project will help us to scale up and increase the amount of money that goes into the pocket of the farmer.” With Africa’s population growing exponentially and its production capacity threatened by en- vironmental pressures, food security is amajor goal of the Trade Hub. Connecting these small- holder farmers to firms that can help themgrow sustainably and investing in their productivity are critical pieces of the puzzle. Recognizing that innovation will be essential in helping these producers grow, the Trade Hub will also offer research and development grants for new agricultural technologies, and will work to transformall levels of production and distribution. “If we don’t unlock capital, we will be in trou-

“I want to change the narrative and improve the lives of women and children,” she told the audience. Women still face skepticismwhen doing busi- ness in the private sector, and cultural barriers often hinder their chances of participating in both national and international markets. Access to capital is amajor obstacle for economic growth in the region, and this is exaggerated when women seek loans for their initiatives, no matter how viable theymay be. Michael Clements, the Chief of Party of the Trade Hub, emphasized that the five-year project’s return on investment is its “social and environmental impact.” Empowering women is the key to achieving sustainable economic growth and the cornerstone of the social impact the Trade Hub hopes to catalyze, he said. n

ble,” said attendee Ayodeji Balogun, CEO of AFEXCommodities Exchange. “Partners like Trade Hub will help catalyze growth.” Promoting sustainable economic inclusion Nearly every presenter at the launch highlighted the Trade Hub’s explicit commitment to work- ing with women entrepreneurs inWest Africa and addressing the gender-specific, cultural barriers they face when entering themarket. Of the 40,000 new jobs the Trade Hub aims to create, half are slated for women. The NigerianMinister of Women’s Affairs and Social Development, Dame Pauline Tallen, said that investing in women “is investing in the community, the nation and the world.”

24 | Think Creative | Spring 2020