SWITZERLAND / BARBADOS – The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB, the Bank) through the SheTrades Caribbean Hub, a joint initiative with the International Trade Centre (ITC), will launch a new partnership to strengthen North American market access for the region’s women entrepreneurs. The bank is deepening its relationship with Caribshopper, an e-commerce platform designed to connect Caribbean businesses with global consumers, by onboarding SheTrades Hub members in the institution’s 19 borrowing member countries to sell their products via the digital marketplace.
The Caribshopper platform, connects regional businesses to consumers in the United States of America (USA) and Canada through its logistical hubs in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. It currently features close to 10,000 Caribbean-made products from over 650 brands. The SheTrades Caribbean Hub is CDB’s flagship resource centre for women-led businesses to access new markets, mentorship, networking and capacity building. Through this new partnership, Caribbean women entrepreneurs who are members of the Hub will enter an established and reputed virtual space to conduct business and receive logistics and in-market compliance support.
According to acting director of projects at CDB L. O’Reilly Lewis:
“The bank continues to explore innovative ways to build resilience and grow the private sector. The SheTrades Caribbean Hub is a major vehicle by which we are advancing the interest of women-led businesses and Micro Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs).”
Lewis added that admittance to the Caribshopper platform will undoubtedly increase market access opportunities available to SheTrades Caribbean Hub members. The partnership will also assist with the delivery of the Hub’s capacity building mandate while also increasing trade and exports from Caribbean women led MSMEs to larger markets.
“We’re building on our existing relationship with Caribshopper and helping to connect women entrepreneurs with international consumers. It is a powerful and empowering opportunity to use a digital platform to facilitate women to reach otherwise untapped markets and to navigate persisting logistical and financial constraints,” said, Lisa Harding, acting head private sector division at CDB, emphasising the importance of the initiative.
“We are thrilled to work alongside the SheTrades Caribbean Hub to provide women entrepreneurs with the tools they need to succeed on the global stage”said Kadion Preston, founder and CEO of Caribshopper.“E-commerce offers unprecedented opportunities, and as a company, we are committed to ensuring that Caribbean women are equipped to take full advantage of the digital economy.”
The partnership will be officially launched during a virtual event on Tuesday February 4, 2025 at 11:00 am AST, along with a call for applications for SheTrades Caribbean Hub members to join Caribshopper.
