Erin Dennis
Connecting Female Entrepreneurs and Corporate Buyers in Nigeria
Over one-third of firms in the formal economy are owned by women, yet women-owned businesses earn less than one percent of the money spent on vendors by large corporations and governments. WEConnect International uses its global network to connect women-owned enterprises to multinational corporate buyers and create more opportunities for women in global value chains. During my experience with WEConnect’s Nigeria branch, I was tasked with organizing capacity development programs alongside WEConnect’s corporate members such as IBM and AstraZeneca, and organizing opportunities for business owners to connect with multinational corporations. The pandemic revealed the resilience and agility of WEConnect’s female entrepreneurs, and I was inspired each time I spoke to a business owner about her passion for her company and the community of other women entrepreneurs. My experience with WEConnect reaffirmed my commitment to women’s economic empowerment, and I look forward to bringing this focus into my coursework and my career.