Niamey (Niger), 25 September 2023 - The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), through its Sub-Regional Office for West Africa (SRO-WA), in collaboration with its strategic partner, Compass Global, is organizing on 28th September 2023 virtually a training on the use and operation of the West Africa Business Linkages Platform (WABLP).
This virtual training aims to familiarize the participants with the WABLP so that they can use it optimally. The training will focus on the following topics:
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How to join/become a member of the platform
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How to communicate and exchange market information on the platform,
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How to update information on products and markets
The WABLP is a virtual portal whose main objective is to facilitate business relations and exchanges, resource sharing, marketing referrals and resource carpooling between women and young entrepreneurs, on the one hand, and to put them in touch with business champions, on the other.
It is accessible to all members via a shared infrastructure and relational databases that guarantee the sharing of multilingual data.
The WABLP enables the development of strategic sourcing platforms and B2B platforms, sharing economy market platforms, which could be applied to regional supply chains to strengthen networks, improve data accuracy, communication, supply chain effectiveness and efficiency.
It will also facilitate access to new markets, while deepening and broadening the scope of partnerships/sponsorship between West African private sector players, including small and medium-sized enterprises in the region and beyond.
To date, 125 entrepreneurs and organizations from across West Africa have registered on the platform.
Under the ECA/SRO-WA, the WABLP was launched at the West Africa Business Forum (WABF), which was organized, and held in September 2021, in Lagos, Nigeria with the strategic partnership of Compass Global, as a Regional Forum on the theme " Empowering Women and Youths to Spur Africa’s Transformation Agenda".
The main objective of the Forum was to support the effective participation of young people and women entrepreneurs in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), in order to seize its opportunities and benefits.
This virtual training will bring together around 150 Regional Players, Women and Youth Entrepreneurs, including representatives of the Organized Private Sector from across West Africa.
The event, which will be chaired by the Director of the ECA/SRO-WA, Mrs Ngone Diop, will also have attendance by the Executive Director of the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FEWACCI)/ IATF Ambassador, Mr. Aminou Akadiri, the CEO Compass Global, Mrs. Tokunbo Chiedu, and a host of implementation partners of the WABLP from across the region.
For further information, please contact: Tahirou Gouro, Communications Officer, ECA/SRO-WA Email: gouro2@un.org