Empretec Women in Business Award 2012 publication - Unctad XI

31Augustine HammondWomen in Business Award 2008, Third prizeCAPITALIZING ON BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIESGarment producer and fashion designerTina Hammond is realizing her dream ofopening a fashion design school in theGhanaian capital of Accra after receiving aconfidence boost in the form of third prizein the 2008 Empretec Women in BusinessAwards. The prize encouraged her toexpand her existing fashion label and tostart exporting to several African countries– and to the United States, where she setup an affiliate. From her Empretec training,Tina learned to see business opportunities wherever she goes. Recentlyshe opened a United States-based business for processing and sellingfish, an entirely new industry for her.Tina’s latest project is the creation of a fashion design school in Ghana.The aim is to revolutionize the country’s fashion industry by educatingfuture African designers. On a study tour to Switzerland – her E-WBAprize – she met the director of the Swiss Textile College, who was soenthusiastic about the idea that he suggested collaboration betweenthe two institutes, including exchanges of teachers and students.EMPRETEC WOMEN IN BUSINESS AWARD 2012JEM AFRIK CREATIONS LTD - GHANAand the potential that l could attain”, she says. Producing traditionalAfrican clothing, JemAfrik, which started with a workforce of 1 in 1986,today employs more than 50 people.Technical training to empower womenThe International Trade Centre’s (ITC’s) Women and Trade Programmeconsists of different elements which all aim at strengthening women’sparticipation in international trade. One of the key componentsis capacity–building. In Ghana, ITC has collaborated with the GhanaExport Promotion Council to link up Ghanaian women who producehandicraft to European buyers.“We believe the role of women in trade is very important as indeedif we are going to tackle poverty. 70 per cent of the world’s poor arewomen and the majority of women are actually informal traders in thedeveloping world. And therefore, we believe that bringing women intothe agenda is very important.”Tina grew up in a neighbourhood were almost everybody was somehowinvolved in the fashion and garment industries, and started her ownfashion brand while still a student. She attracted her first customers bydisplaying her dresses in a tree in front of her house. “After attendingthe maiden edition of the Empretec entrepreneurship training workshopin 1990, I became aware of the opportunities that existed in the industry