Egypt: SheTrades (AfTIAS)
SheTrades Global
The SheTrades initiative at the International Trade Centre (ITC) has changed the economic lives of three million women in 30 countries by connecting them to markets. We have opened 12 regional hubs across Africa, Asia, South America, the Caribbean and Europe, and we continue to grow.
The initiative centres on empowering women engaging in international trade and creating a women-inclusive fairer business ecosystem. We help them overcome barriers and, with them, identify areas that urgently need to be addressed.
Our flagship event, SheTrades Global, brings together women entrepreneurs from all these regions. For women whose businesses are ready to export, they have a unique chance to connect meet potential buyers, investors and partners.
Previous editions of SheTrades Global — held in Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, Türkiye, Brazil, Rwanda, Mexico, and China — included representatives from over 85 countries and generated over $80 million of new business for women entrepreneurs.
Participation is free.
Unfortunately, after careful consideration of events over the past two years, as well as consultation with beneficiaries and stakeholders, ITC decided to cancel the 8th edition of SheTrades Global.
The SheTrades Initiative, and our partners in this endeavor, remain fully committed to continuing to create opportunities for women to trade across our collective, global portfolio. Please refer to SheTrades.com for information on our numerous opportunities and events, and for updates.
As the African Continental Free Trade Area prepared to begin, the conference heard how the common market needs to deliver for women.
The conference was featured at the 2018 International Business Festival, a major global festival of trade and investment held every two years in Liverpool. The Festival attracted industry leaders, international delegations and companies from across the world looking to expand their trade footprint.
This year will highlight four sectors – beauty and wellness; IT and business-process outsourcing; textiles and apparel; and tourism.
Before becoming SheTrades Global, the conference was known as the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum (WVEF). This is the premier global event to get inspired, do business and create lifetime opportunities for women entrepreneurs by providing training, improving skills and facilitating meetings with buyers.
Photos
![Gambian woman smiling at the camera in front of a wall of colourful fabric bags behind her on shelves](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/media/image/media_image/2022/07/28/shetrades_gambia.jpg?itok=9dCt0maC)
![SheTrades Rwanda marks impressive project results 2](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/media/image/media_image/2022/03/11/shetradesrwanda1.jpeg?itok=XheDH4Pt)
![Two people discussing products at a trade fair in Morocco](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/media/image/media_image/2022/11/15/shetrades_morocco_sial_2022.jpeg?itok=okWEWz_M)
The premier global business event to connect women entrepreneurs with potential buyers, investors and partners to grow their exports
SheTrades Egypt at Turathna Exhibition
Cairo
<p>For the fourth year in a row, the Medium, Small and Micro Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA) Egypt is organizing the “Turathna” (Our Heritage) exhibition for handicrafts, from October 9 to 15, in Cairo.</p><p>The Turathna Exhibition is the largest exhibition in Egypt that is specialized in heritage products and handicrafts. It is a forum for creators, craftsmen and artists from different Arab countries.</p><p>This year, 32 women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises, beneficiaries of SheTrades Egypt at the International Trade Centre, will participate to showcase their products.</p><p><br> </p>
Egypt: SheTrades (AfTIAS)
Women economic empowerment in the handicraft sector.
The International Trade Centre’s flagship initiative on women and trade, SheTrades, has launched a new chapter in Egypt to empower and boost the competitiveness of women-owned micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the handicraft sector.
The project’s overarching objective is women’s economic empowerment as part of the country’s inclusive and sustainable development and economic growth.
The project will provide women-led small businesses with trainings on production, packaging, logistics, trade information, quality management, and sector-specific marketing and sales.
Fifty targeted women-owned small businesses will benefit from adopting best export practices and connecting with export markets and buyers, translating into increased resources and growth of their businesses.
Assisting trade support institutions to enhance services to women
To ensure strong support for women entrepreneurs entering new markets, the project will also provide advisory services, trainings and technical guidance to the Export Development Authority of Egypt and selected trade support institutions to establish more effective trade institutional frameworks for women-owned businesses.
SheTrades Egypt will:
- Train trade support institutions on gender and how to mainstream gender in their institutions
- Help institutions understand the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs and how to build up their capacity to trade
- Provide support on trade information services, market development and quality management
- Advise buyers on how to better engage with women entrepreneurs, providing online and offline training, best practices and helping them commit to sourcing goods and services from participating women entrepreneurs
- Support select trade institutions who take a lead role in mobilizing buyers and ensure effective business-to-business links
Sustainable Development Goals
<p>The proposed project focuses on supporting businesswomen in the <strong>handicraft</strong> sector in Egypt to sustain and grow their business with a view to contributing actively to the welfare of their families and securing livelihoods.</p><p>The project will help Egyptians women owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the<strong> handicraft </strong>sector to<strong> </strong>integrate into domestic and global value chains and access new markets by assisting SMEs to deliver products in accordance with market requirements, improving the capacities of trade support institutions (TSIs) to provide quality business support services to women owned SMEs, and linking SMEs to new markets.</p>