The spotlight is on Black businesses and entrepreneurs for Black history month 2022, and there is a reason for this theme.
The Sixth annual celebration of Black history at legislature
Last week as I sat down at the Alberta legislature, I was happy to celebrate Black History Month in person again, and it was a great event.
Hearing such great stories and examples of powerful conversations, led by MLA David Shepherd and John Cornish, reminded me of the importance of this year’s topic: the rise and empowerment of Black business owners and entrepreneurs in my province.
Supporting Black empowerment through entrepreneurship could lead to significant growth and opportunity for the Black community in Alberta.
Resources for black creators
Thankfully, different programs are now finally being activated. The Federation of African Canadian Economics (FACE) loan program, STORYHIVE Black Creators Edition, or some other program made for Black businesses, entrepreneurs, or creators. These Black serving programs provide services to help Black professionals gain more experience.
It has always been challenging to start as a Black entrepreneur, but the times are different now. Some organizations and programs have been created to help Black businesses grow.
Black entrepreneurs face many unique obstacles, such as access to capital and resources. The purpose of these funding programs is to help them with these challenges. Below are some programs :
Africa Center
The Africa Center is offering to support to all Black businesses.
“A community where Black entrepreneurs and small business owners are fully integrated and have the same opportunities to realize their dreams”
Africa Center’s Entrepreneurship Empowerment program seeks to build a sustainable ecosystem in which Black entrepreneurs and people of African descent can thrive.
The program will seek to do the following:
- Stimulate and support business creation, scaling and expansion.
- Develop and deliver programs for business skills development.
- Provide relevant and timely business services to entrepreneurs.
I highly recommend checking out their website for more information.
The Federation of African Canadian Economics (FACE)
FACE is a national and bilingual Black-led non-profit organization focused on providing resources and information to the Black community across Canada with the aim of accelerating wealth creation for Canadians of African descent.This is a loan program that is ready to support your businesses if you are in need of a loan as a Black entrepreneur.
black business face unique challenges
When we think about some of the challenges businesses face today because of the pandemic, they’re compounded within the Black community.When we look into specific industries, such as the technology sector or the cannabis space, we see patterns and not much representation of the Black individuals in either senior roles or ownership.This is due to systemic issues. This is why it is essential to know that the rise of Black business in 2022 is something that we all should be aware of if we are open to more diversity and inclusion within industries.
black businesses have history in alberta
Alberta is a province that has had a history of Black entrepreneurship in its roots which was refreshing to hear.On top of that, with the more significant topic of making history now or how Black history is now, a local rapper named OG Jonas, who had an outstanding performance was the first hip hop artist to perform in the Alberta legislature building, which is shocking as it’s 2022.
I believe that because of some of the opportunities and challenges faced today, we are right now in the process of making history, and we need to be more present than ever.
2022 will be an important year for black creators
This pandemic compounded with the murders of Black and Brown people made 2020 and 2021 a very tough year.From these worldwide protests, many systematic issues have been brought to light pushing large companies to launch programs to support Black-owned businesses. You can check out initiatives from some of the biggest online platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, etc.Black Creators have a unique opportunity because many people, platforms, and organizations are open to hearing their stories, which was not always the case in the past.
Take the full advantage
The Canadian government has invested almost a billion dollars in Canada into both the Black business and not-for-profit sector.These programs have a runway of 24 to 36 months, and there are so many programs, resources, and opportunities for Black business owners and entrepreneurs. This is an unprecedented time that will be viewed in history.