June is a busy month in terms of global events and awareness. Outside of being Pride Month, it also happens to small business (SMB) month for many companies, one of which is Google.
As part of acknowledging the role that SMBs and SMEs play, Google has announced new initiatives to support retail businesses in Africa during June.
This includes a one hour virtual training event named the Shopping Small Business Summit, which is aimed at helping SMB owners develop skills and tools to compete online. Topics for the Summit will include ecommerce trends and digital marketing, with it being open to all who register at the event’s portal here.
Added to this is the debut of the Local Opportunity Finder, a new tool that evaluates a Google Business Profile and makes personalised recommendations for changes that a business owner can make to enhance how their business profile looks to consumers in Google Search.
Another initiative is the free, one-week-long Hustle Academy, in June which will focus on essential skills that will help small and medium-sized retail businesses build skills for growth.
“E-commerce presents an opportunity for small businesses in Africa to reach new customers and grow. Through the digital marketing & e-commerce career certificates and specialised trainings and 1000 scholarships, we want to be able to assist small businesses in Africa gain the expertise to connect online, expand their customer base and scale up,” notes Zeph Masote, YouTube Lead for Southern Africa, of the importance of SMBs on the continent.
“Africa’s growing young population and urbanisation present huge expansion opportunities for small retail businesses. South Africa has almost 2,000 shopping malls covering over 24 million square metres. Wholesale and retail are the third largest contributors to Nigeria’s GDP, with more than 90 percent of the industry made up of informal merchants, while Kenya, with an e-commerce market growth rate of 44 percent in 2021, has seen a steady rise in the number of outlets over the last five years,” adds Google in a press release sent to Hypertext.
