Building skills for the digital economy through education, interaction & advocacy

The ability to seize these opportunities and manage potential obstacles, however, is not evenly distributed. Vulnerable and marginalized populations could face a ‘double disadvantage’ in the future, due to a lack of awareness of or means to adapt to these changes.

This session will explore how education, interaction and advocacy can bring LDCs into the digital economy and the broader world of traditional trade.

Education: We will explore how acquiring much needed digital skills can help previously disadvantaged communities participate in the digital economy.

Interaction: We will show how participation in the digital economy will lead to interaction with the global trade community and, over time, inclusion in more traditional trade.

Advocacy: The session will explore how the representation of the needs of MSMEs in LDCs to Governments and aid organisations underpins education and interaction.

The session will cover some of the following topics:
• Skills essential to participation in the digital economy
• Mechanisms for skills delivery
• Facilitating participation in the digital economy and global trade ecosystem
• Building the skills to inform policy at an international level

Event information:
Date: Wednesday 12th December
Time: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Venue: Room 11, United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya

Speakers:

Lisa McAuley, CEO- Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA)

Lisa has worked in international trade for over ten years, most recently as CEO of the ECA has seen the organisation focus on ground-breaking research and advocacy projects that promote and enhance the global competitiveness of SMEs. Lisa lends her passion for international trade and her respected voice in the industry to various initiatives, from an advisory role on the AmCham Trade Advisory Group, to the board of CargoHound and the Executive Director of the Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA).

Collins Rex, Director – Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA)

Collins is the Asia & Africa Director for the Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA). She is an international trade specialist with well over 30 years’ business experience. She has owned and operated her own very successful businesses on two continents, and in her professional capacity assists clients across a range of international marketing, product development and communications areas.

Collins has been responsible for the development and delivery of training material and practical courses in international business across a range of subject areas, in markets as diverse as Australia, South Africa and Peru. She has also to date delivered three highly successful Australia Awards: Women Trading Globally programmes to women from across the Pacific and South Asia. Collins holds a degree in Sociology and Psychology from the Rand Afrikaans University.

Annette Ssemuwemba, Deputy Executive Director – EIF Programme

Ms Ssemuwemba joined the EIF programme as Deputy Executive Director on 1 October 2017. Prior to that, she was the Chief Strategy and Results Officer and member of the Senior Leadership team at TradeMark East Africa. In this role, she was responsible for strategy execution and results delivery across a portfolio of US$540 million in seven countries. She is an international development professional with over 20 years of experience in international trade and development, primarily trade policy formulation, regional integration, trade facilitation and trade-related capacity-building at national and regional levels. She holds a wealth of experience in designing and implementing trade capacity-building programmes that address development needs of countries, particularly Least Developed Countries. She holds a Master of Business Administration.

Case study: Rwanda Business