Road to Markets

Across the world there is a vast gender gap in entrepreneurship that sees women entrepreneurs unfairly held back from successfully growing their businesses.  

Women-owned businesses in low and middle income countries have enormous potential, not only for the women themselves but for their families, communities, and the world in general. The ability to access markets is a key route to business growth and success – 59% of women surveyed by the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women in 2022 reported needing better access to markets or procurement opportunities in order to address the business challenges that they face. 

However, women face a host of gendered challenges when it comes to accessing markets, such as a lack of access to knowledge, information, networks, capital and technology, as well as structural issues like gender bias and discrimination, legal and regulatory barriers, infrastructure challenges, and concentration in less-profitable parts of value chains. 

Our Road to Markets programme is designed to support women entrepreneurs to overcome these challenges, equipping them with the knowledge, confidence, networks and pathways to achieve business growth through accessing new markets or expanding penetration of their existing markets.  

For roughly 10 hours per month across a six month period, participants receive highly tailored and localised coaching and training, taking place both online and face-to-face. These sessions provide women with: 

• Knowledge across five key topics: market research and product adaptation; e-commerce and logistics; legal, compliance and procurement; digital marketing and outreach; and how financing can support market access. 
• One-to-one coaching  to overcome specific, individual challenges relating to their own businesses. 
• Access to a wide range of online resources relevant to the programme’s main learning topics. 
• Lasting and highly beneficial networks with other participants. 
• Self-belief in their ability to access markets. 
• Support to develop a six to 12 month market growth plan to achieve their ambitions. 
• Confidence, commitment and energy to put their plans into practice. 

Road to Markets was launched in Kenya in 2024. The programme is designed to support women running micro, small or medium-sized enterprises in low and middle income countries who are alumnae of the Foundation’s Road to Growth and/or Road to Finance programmes, or other comparable third-party programmes.  

Road to Markets has been developed in consultation with women entrepreneurs and is purpose-built to meet their needs. The programme is highly adaptable to respond to the evolving needs of women across different countries, which we hope to achieve through new programme funding partnerships soon.