Think Creative Issue 8

Dispatches

Dispatches

updates from around our world updates from around our world

Newmodels for impact investing From staffing cuts to border closings, a myriad of factors has made getting products from pro- ducers to consumers extremely difficult. A Trade Hub survey of companies in its pipeline found that 68 percent of respondents said they would continue with their planned investments. Thirty percent of the respondents who made staff cuts said they laid off at least a quarter of their workforce. In many cases, a re- duced workforce has slowed down transporta- tion. Eighty-six percent of survey respondents reported that the COVID-19 pandemic had adversely affected their ability to sustain their operations and financial situation. One survey respondent left this comment: “We have lost a lot of our onion and tomato produc- tion, because the weekly farmers markets were suspended and we lack storage capacity.” The Trade Hub’s findings are in line with the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa’s data showing that 19 million jobs have been lost across the continent, underscoring the need for the rapid deployment of working capital to the private sector. Even before the pandemic, the Trade Hub was preparing to pilot newmodels for impact in- vestment ventures that include SMEs. Plans to channel working capital to thousands of small trucks, customers and small businesses moving goods in the formal and informal sectors in Nigeria could bring relief on a scale unmatched by the agency before. As the economy faces a prolonged downturn from the pandemic, these kinds of ventures will become more urgent. Women entrepreneurs and COVID-19 One of the Trade Hub’s benchmark metrics is the creation of 40,000 new jobs —with half for women — during the next five years. Because economic losses from the global crisis are not gender neutral, this standard is vital to sus- taining gains made by women entrepreneurs in recent years. The National Survey on the Impact of COVID-19 onWomen Businesses in Nigeria, commissioned by several Nigerian government agencies, reported on the acute vulnerability of women-led micro, small and medium-sized businesses. One woman representing the agricultural industry who responded to the Trade Hub’s survey said: “We are now very low on farm inputs, which we get fromKaduna and Abuja, because the supplier is having serious challeng- es getting to us.” Another respondent echoed the predominant sentiment that supply chain disruption is per- haps the most daunting challenge.

West Africa // West Africa Trade and Investment Hub Rising to the challenge

security initiatives and prevention of job loss- es; and scaling up production and service ca- pabilities of companies engaged in COVID-19 response on a case-by-case basis. Prior to the pandemic, supply chains were frag- ile and were a key focus of the Trade Hub, says JimWinkler, Vice President of the Economic Growth Division at Creative Associates Inter- national. “The pandemic has forced us to rethink and shorten supply lines, particularly if they come from outside the continent,” says Winkler. “In addition, COVID-19 presented the Trade Hub with an opportunity to exercise the same values we want to see in all grantees, especially the ability to be agile and engage directly with the most pressing issues of the time.”

The U.S. Agency for International Development designated an additional $50million in funds to theWest Africa Trade and Investment Hub, with $36million allocated specifically for COVID-19 relief. With this additional funding, the Trade Hub will partner with financial institutions to increase the working capital available to small andmedium-sized businesses hit hard by the pandemic, with an emphasis on increasing food security andmaintaining employment. This relief also supports the U.S. government’s Prosper Africa initiative, which promotes in- clusive two-way trade and investment between the U.S. and African companies. The pandemic-related activity has three objec- tives: overcoming disruptions in export-ori- ented supply chains; supporting domestic food

Infographic by Amanda Smallwood

10 | Think Creative | Fall 2020