The United States (U.S) has the world’s largest economy coming in at over US25 trillion. African American is approximately 13 percent of the population. According to a 2019 CBS Kristopher Bridges’ report- “Black Americans and their spending are becoming an ever-larger slice of the U.S. economy, especially spending on consumer goods ranging from shoes to cell phone services. African American buying power surpassed $1 trillion in 2016 and is expected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2021, according to the University of Georgia. That makes Black Americans the largest racial consumer market.”
Amazon is the world’s largest retailer and its owner, Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man. He has a net worth of US$190.6 billion. In this mega organisation could be found Guyanese Tiffany Johnson who leads the company’s Black Business Accelerator (BBA) programme. She is the face of the company’s advertisement of what Amazon is doing to attract black businesses. US$150 million is being directed by the company to the BBA programme in supporting Black-owned businesses on Amazon’s platform.
Her brainchild- The BBA Programme
Tiffany is the Programme Manager of the BBA Programme. It was her brainchild. She said she brings to this vision the experiences of her parents who were both entrepreneurs in Guyana and St. Lucia. Speaking to Black Enterprise, she said her parents started their small business in Guyana from nothing and built it up from the ground. When they migrated to St. Lucia, they started all over again.
Her parents’ business she said started with a little shack in front of their home selling candies, and in St Lucia selling movies, belts, sandals, With the little they earned she said they were able to expand and help the community. It is that spirit she brings to the BBA programmed and inspired her to join Amazon. She wanted to help sellers just like her parents find their opportunity.
The BBA was launched on June 15. The programme aims to build sustainable equity and growth for Black entrepreneurs by enabling their success as sellers in the Amazon store. Amazon will partner with non-profit organisations to provide financial assistance, business education and mentorship, and marketing and promotion to enable economic advancement for Black entrepreneurs
Grants of $10,000 would be made available to businesses that sell products that are shippable via Amazon. The grant does not cater for service-based businesses. Qualified applicants will need a professional selling account and a “Diverse Ownership” certificate. The BBA programme is aiming to help Black business owners reach millions of customers across the USA (and of course around the world, including Guyana).
For more information on the programme visit www.amazon.com/bba
Source- the internet
