Episode Description
In this episode, I'm speaking with Wunmi Adekanmbi, the visionary behind Trade Without Borders, a platform that aims to advance Canada's global trade diversification through diaspora networks, international partnerships, and engagement with emerging markets.
And considering all that's happened with our biggest trade partner in the last year, you'd agree with me that Wunmi's work is important.
Wunmi and I chat about:
Why she thinks immigrant entrepreneurs are underselling their biggest asset
Why we need to see immigrants as trade infrastructure
Convening the first Trade Without Border summit in Calgary
How the survival phase can sometimes become a trap for newcomers
Dozie's Notes
A few things that stuck with me as I listened through this week's conversation:
We need to rethink how we approach settlement. Yes, we should still run resume writing and ESL classes. But we also need to start building programs that are a fit for the economic immigrants we talk about bringing into the country. How do we help them settle in faster? How do we tap into the market knowledge and informal trade connections they bring?
I've come across the survival trap one too many times in these podcast conversations. You arrive and get caught up in the whirlwind of settling in—find a job, pay the rent, get through your first winter. You know the drill. By the time you're stable, you've lost some of the fire you had in you when you boarded that one-way flight to the Great White North. Folks, we need to build.
Official Links
✅ Connect with Wunmi Adekanmbi on LinkedIn
✅ Follow Trade Without Borders
One Ask
If you found this story helpful, please consider sharing it with one Canadian immigrant you know.
Timestamps
0:00 Rethinking trade in Canada
0:54 Intro
2:07 Building Trade Without Borders
6:00 Immigrants are an economic engine
9:35 What "infrastructure" means
12:16 Beyond the job description
18:30 The system conditions newcomers
21:40 What both sides of the table need to start doing
27:34 Business-led interprovincial changes
33:05 What immigrant entrepreneurs should say to investors
38:38 Outro