Global Shea Alliance participates at in-cosmetics, trains women in Ghana

The Global Shea Alliance, co-founded by the USAID Trade Hub in 2011, participated at the In-Cosmetics international trade show and the Union for Ethical Bio Trade conference in Paris, distributing more than 100 annual reports and membership directories to shea butter distributers, brands, and development agencies from around the world.

More than 500 representatives of all points in the shea value chain participated in the Global Shea Alliance’s “Global Perspectives” conference, held in Abuja, Nigeria, in March, and set the course for the future of an industry whose global significance grows with every year. Alliance members set up working groups on sustainability on the critical issues of quality and sustainability, and elected a new president.

AGOA opened the U.S. to  duty-free sale of more than 6,000 items (tariff lines) from African nations provided those countries conduct free and fair elections. Products from West Africa that have utilized the program include textiles, apparel, agricultural products such as cashews and shea butter as well as oil and gas.

Ask any up-and-coming export company in West Africa what its greatest challenge is and it will probably say financing – and, in particular, long-term financing to acquire plant and equipment to grow. Development agencies have in the past often taken the availability of financing for granted. They saw the impressive number of banks in country or represented from abroad and assumed that this presence translated into availability of finance.

Access to finance remains a significant constraint for thousands of companies across West Africa, but a strategic initiative launched by the USAID Trade Hub in 2009 has helped SME exporting companies finance their activities and grow, a review of the initiative shows.

Business
The Global Shea Alliance has released a draft of its sustainability strategy for the shea industry as it prepares for the sixth industry annual conference March 4-6 in Abuja, Nigeria. The conference has already surpassed $100,000 in sponsorship support. The strategy places women’s livelihoods as its central focus and is available online at www.globalshea.com.

Bankers learn about USAID Trade Hub access to finance initiatives

80 finance experts discussed constraints that limit small and medium enterprises’ access to finance and learned about the USAID Trade Hub’s innovative work to improve access during a meeting organized by Ecobank Togo in Lome. The USAID Trade Hub’s work with the African Cashew Alliance, the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development and the West African Development Bank were the focus of a presentation by the USAID Trade Hub.

The USAID West Africa Trade Hub and the USAID Business Environments for Agile Markets (BEAM) project are pleased to invite you to review a Request for Quotation/Proposal for "FINANCIAL FACILITATION SERVICES FOR EXPORT READY FIRMS IN WEST AFRICA."

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION/PROPOSAL
 

For

FINANCIAL FACILITATION SERVICES FOR EXPORT READY FIRMS IN WEST AFRICA

Reference:  USAID Contract Number EEM-I-00-07-00006-00, Task Order: AID-OAA-TO-11-00044

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT FOR AGILE MARKETS (BEAM)

BEAM RFQ.pdf