Glovo, a pioneering multi-category app, has brokered a partnership with Visa, world leader in digital payments, aimed at empowering growth-minded Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) through a series of online training courses.
Sébastien Pellion, Head, Impact and Sustainability, Glovo, on Thursday via a statement, said that SMEs would benefit from 100+ videos in nine countries, hosted by Visa in connection with Glovo.
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Pellion said the series were designed to help SMEs learn key skills, including digital payments, marketing campaigns, social media, and money management.
He stated that the partnership was due to both companies’ shared belief that SMEs were pillars of global economy.
Pellion noted that only 20 per cent of SMEs in the markets within their area of operations sold via digital channels, resulting in a huge potential for them to tap into new customer bases.
Pellion said partnering with Visa was another opportunity to support SMEs on their digitalisation journey and accelerate small and independent businesses in regions like Africa, which had ample opportunities for local business owners.
“The programme sits under Glovo’s umbrella programme, Glovo Local – an initiative to help bolster SMEs so that they can thrive in an increasingly digital world.
“The videos are geared towards aspiring local business owners who want to competently start a small business, as well as growth-minded owners of SMEs looking for ways to streamline their current practices and expand.
“The series is aimed at small businesses with 10 or fewer employees and the partnership comes at an important time for SMEs worldwide to overcome persistent challenges including complex regulations, inadequate digital infrastructure, and a scarcity of digital talent.
“The 100+ videos will be available across nine countries in southwest Europe and Africa (Spain, Portugal, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria) and will be accessible to over 40,000 SMEs.
“We are using this opportunity to further our offering to SMEs and to strengthen a collaborative ecosystem for entrepreneurs and business owners that shape our cities.
“We’re confident that Visa can aid us in fuelling local economies through formalised, community-driven initiatives,” Pellion said.
Carl Manlan, the Vice President and Head of Social Impact, Visa, described SMEs as backbone of economic growth and inclusion and equipping them with innovative solutions and resources with our partners was essential.
He noted that small, independent businesses account for more than half of Europe’s Gross Domestic Product and employed around 100 million people.
Mainland added that in Africa, SMEs account for 95 per cent of all registered businesses and contribute to about 50 per cent of the total GDP in sub-Saharan countries.
“Globally we are moving from hundreds of millions of sellers – large and small – to billions of sellers around the world and anyone today can be a seller – people reselling second-hand items.
“Visa is working to provide services at scale to reach these sellers and help them flourish.
“This is why we are proud to collaborate with Glovo and leverage the option of visual training to help provide these 40,000 SMEs with the opportunity to improve their skills and knowledge and overcome the challenges of digitisation and leverage the opportunities of e-commerce and digital payments,” he said.
