eBay Spotlights Women Entrepreneurs in Central America

This holiday season, we’ve launched a new Central America Hub in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC) to spotlight unique, handcrafted goods from female entrepreneurs in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

This new portal features a selection of jewelry, textiles, ceramics, leather and wood products — all handmade by more than 40 Central American artisans and designers.

At eBay, our ethos is to create economic opportunity for all through our global marketplace. Initiatives like the Central America Hub with ITC harness our technology to open the door for small businesses to reach millions of new customers worldwide.

This initiative is part of the European Union-funded project – Linking Central American Women-Owned Businesses with the Global Gifts and Home Decoration Market – which is implemented in collaboration with the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA) and local partner institutions. The program aims to create new business opportunities for women-led businesses through ecommerce channels and by strengthening their product design and export capabilities.

Online marketplaces like eBay promote cross-border trade and help to transform the way small businesses do business.

By bringing their businesses online, entrepreneurs like Soledad Bore of Soledad Art Jewelry in Costa Rica are becoming micro multinationals, exporting and conducting their businesses across borders. Soledad said she looks forward to being able to successfully promote her brand abroad, thanks to training provided by ITC, eBay and other partners.

“Through the training, I’ve learned about the importance of having good product photos, attractive and authentic product descriptions as well as a high quality packaging,” she said.

Xavier Aguirre Rojas, senior business development manager of eBay Latin America, said, “eBay supports businesses of all shapes and sizes, and in these regions where traditional business could be limited, online platforms can be an important source of income.”

eCommerce is particularly important for women entrepreneurs, who can operate from their homes and family businesses. In 2016, ITC conducted a survey with a sample of 200 micro and small enterprises in the Central American craft sector. The results revealed that while 80 percent of the people working in this sector were women, they only own 25 percent of businesses. By focusing on connecting women producers to online markets, partnerships like this provide invaluable economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs.

eBay is committed to supporting women-owned small businesses in advancing their operations and creating wealth in their own communities. Learn more at ebaymainstreet.com/InclusiveTrade.

About ITC

The International Trade Centre is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. ITC assists small- and medium-sized enterprises in developing and transition economies to become more competitive in global markets, thereby contributing to sustainable economic development within the frameworks of the Aid-for-Trade agenda and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.