IDRC: EMPOWERING WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES IN INDIA

(May 12, 2016) IDRC is assisting WEConnect International to develop a searchable database of women-owned businesses in India. This will strengthen WEConnect International’s eNetwork, providing tools for businesses to connect with local suppliers, as well as promoting a wider community of practice.

WEConnect International has helped 600 companies register in the database, and 60 are certified to supply large companies. This has helped generate over US$127 million annually and employ more than 4,600 people across India. The plan is to scale up the model by replicating it in another 17 developing countries.

“With generous support from IDRC, we were able to improve and grow a really powerful database of women-owned businesses in 100 countries,” WEConnect International CEO and co-founder Elizabeth A. Vazquez says.

“The database is important to women around the world,” she adds. “Women who own businesses of all sizes urgently need better access to local and global markets.”

There is a growing list of women-owned businesses in India benefiting from WEConnect International’s ability to connect them with global buyers.

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