The International Decade for People of African Des-cent Assembly – Guyana (IDPADA-G) organised and hosted its second Uja-maa Exhibition and Sale on Main Street, between Middle and Church Streets, on Thursday and Friday.
In a press release, IDPADA-G said the two-day exhibition and sale, called ‘Ujamaa 2.0,’ promoted and catered to over 90 African Guyanese businesses in arts and crafts, agro-processing, self-care, home décor, African fashion and more.
“‘Ujamaa’ – a Swahili word meaning ‘Cooperative Economics’ is the fourth Principle of Kwanzaa and calls on people of African Descent to support our businesses and share in work and wealth.
The principle of Ujamaa promotes self-reliance, rejects exploitation, and engages in cooperation for the community’s common good,” the release explained.
At the opening ceremony, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Olive Cannings-Sampson noted that Ujamaa was chosen as the motto and guiding principle of the exhibition and sale as it speaks to cooperative action for economic progress.
“Ujamaa 2.0 also expresses the sentiments and aspirations that fill us today as we approach Emancipation. Emancipation has been and must continue to be a time when we reflect on and learn from our history. The pain of the past guides us and reminds us that we seek healing, and we rededicate to work for a brighter future. A future our ancestors dreamed of but never saw,” Cannings-Sampson was quoted as saying.
The release said the CEO told the audience of diplomats, educators, entrepreneurs and media that Emancipation must inspire us with thoughts of our ancestors. “Their cooperative action led first to the cooperative purchase of abandoned plantations, and then the structuring and establishment of villages that became the foundation of our nation’s local government system. What a demonstration of entrepreneurial spirit that first purchase shows, and that is the entrepreneurial spirit that you see abiding here today and for the next week and continually across Guyana,” she
Stated, pointing to the entrepreneurial spirit and creativity that is demonstrated in vendors sharing a common space to engage in economic activity.
In brief remarks, Professor Leyland Lucas, Dean School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (SEBI) at the University of Guyana, said Guyana is at a stage where entrepreneurship has become extremely important. “We are here to observe a number of entrepreneurial ventures, things that people and organisations have done and have been brought together by IDPADA-G so that we can once again celebrate and demonstrate the entrepreneurial drive of Africans,” he said.
Professor Lucas reminded the audience that entrepreneurship has been an essential aspect of our lives and committed the UG and SEBI’s continued commitment “to promoting and supporting entrepreneurial initiatives throughout Guyana.”
“We will continue to work with entrepreneurs and prospective entrepreneurs in every way possible. But to create an entrepreneurial eco-system requires a number of players. I applaud the work of a number of players such as the small business bureau, but funding remains a critical aspect of entrepreneurial success. In other environments, I have raised this issue and continue to raise it,” he said while asserting that more must be done to assist entrepreneurs.
“While support is available through certain organisations more is needed to be done. We need to develop, in addition to that, organisations and entities that permit entrepreneurs and prospective entrepreneurs—to not only demonstrate their abilities but have access to funding through new instruments, venture capitalists, and angel investors and those things will require some action on the part of the authorities in this country,” Lucas said as he called for a revision of the banking laws so that cooperatives can engage in much greater opportunities for funding and that financial institutions be created that are directly designed to support entrepreneurial ventures.
He congratulated IDPADA-G on its initiatives while urging the entrepreneurs who gathered in their numbers on Main Street to be resilient.
Maxine Parris-Aaron, Agricultural Health Specialist at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), recognised IDPADA-G’s work and committed IICA’s continued support. Noting IICA’s four strategic objectives and its five hemispheric programmes, Parris- Aaron said that they mirror the work and objectives of IDPADA-G. “Consequently, IICA can complement the execution of IDPADA-G’s programme activities upon receipt of the request and would be happy to facilitate the further empowerment of these and other entrepreneurs,” she said.
Professor Patsy Ann Francis, Executive Director Institute of Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Guyana (UGIRIE), expressed well wishes to the entrepreneurs and called for there to be economic cohesiveness.
Attendees included British High Commissioner Jane Miller, Chile’s Ambassador to Guyana Juan Manuel Pino Vasquez, representatives from the United States Embassy, the Canadian High Commission, the United Nations and other overseas Missions, and civil society.
