We-Fi steps up to create women entrepreneurs 

Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) of the World Bank launched a capacity building programme – Corporate Connect– in Bangladesh to enhance women entrepreneurs' ability to do business with large buyers. 

The project will support the country's Women-owned Small and Medium Enterprises (WSMEs) to push them into a profitable supply chain. 

WEConnect International and North South University will jointly implement this multi-pronged capacity building programme, said a media statement issued on Wednesday. 

To this respect, a virtual ceremony was held where key stakeholders attended to present the initiative's overarching goal— enabling WSMEs to connect and do business with local and multinational corporations committed to expanding inclusive sourcing throughout their value chains. 

The capacity building programme aims to inform and educate the WSMEs about potential opportunities, train them for capacity development and subsequently connect them to corporations for business generation. 

"Economic participation and representation of women businesses in the corporate supply chain will not only benefit large companies through inclusive growth but will also enhance women entrepreneurs' ability to provide quality services" said Hosna Ferdous Sumi, private sector specialist of Word Bank. 

The programme will include a 20-hour advanced training programme, a pitch-training and finally support to establish linkages between WSMEs and buyers through business matchmaking events.

Corporate representatives will also take part as resource persons in the training programme. 

"I am confident that we will succeed in making the connections that benefit both buyers and women suppliers," said Elizabeth A Vazquez, CEO and co-founder of WEConnect International. 

"We will work closely with North South University to share business intelligence and training to those WSMEs seeking both networking opportunities with procurement departments and insights into how to navigate the complexities of corporate value chains." 

North South University will bring its decades of academic and practical experience to the project through an in-depth supplier readiness training programme for WSMEs seeking to deepen their skills, enhance their networking opportunities with procurement departments, and grow their insights into how to navigate the complexities of corporate value chains. 

"North South University is excited to be an implementation partner of the Corporate Connect programme for women business owners," said DrAtiqul Islam, vice-chancellor of North South University. 
In the next three years, the Corporate Connect aims to train over 700 women to be supplier-ready and to work with at least 40 large companies to enhance their supplier diversity efforts. 

Furthermore, in collaboration with the Small-and-Medium Enterprise Foundation (SMEF) Bangladesh, the project is developing a national supplier database to facilitate business connections between WSMEs and corporations.