- The Ethiopian Women Empowerment Association (EWEA) said that it has been providing capacity building trainings and women-owned investment landscapes to bring about competent women entrepreneurs.
In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald, EWEA President Engidaye Eshete said that the association has been offering advocacy, credit access services and enabling business environment to enhance women entrepreneurs' competitiveness and ensure beneficiary.
Engidaye further stated that the association collaborating with partners has also been providing leadership and entrepreneur trainings via its 270 branches and 18 giant associations across the country.
According to her, the revised macroeconomic policy would help change the past scenarios and open new venues for the entrepreneurs to promote their products, digital literacy which in turn spurs nation's economy.
She said, "It has also identified potential gaps in areas of export products in terms of quality, price and quantity with value addition to the international market. Similarly, access to finance, gender gap in agricultural productivity, and market linkages are the identified bottlenecks for the development of Ethiopian women entrepreneurs."
Moreover, the association signed MoU with the agriculture ministry with the view of addressing their export trade gaps and equipping them with the necessary agricultural inputs for mechanized farming.
To date, it has crafted a 10-Year Strategic Plan which embraces women digital inclusion, women's financial reliability and their entrepreneurial success, she pointed out.
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She said, adding that recent studies unveiled that the entrepreneurs are encountering information and awareness hurdles; therefore, it is aggressively working to address these challenges and reinforce their outreach not only in the country but also in the region and the world at large.
For his part, GIZ Project Team Leader Ashebir Demie stated that by strengthening rural value chain (SRVC) initiative, GIZ is providing technical and organizational capacity of business associations to strengthen the advocacy, evidence-based public private dialogue capabilities of private sectors in agribusiness.
He also reiterated that the project has given special heed to women engaging in business association by providing various training such as advocacy, leadership and membership development.
He added that the project has also been providing trade fair facilities including tents for exhibition to help display their products.
Furthermore, financial and technical assistance conduct investment climate surveys and organize public private dialogue workshops focusing on the business enabling environment of women-owned business, Ashebir noted.
Apart from supporting the association's 10 year strategic plan, he emphasized that the project has been actively involved in website and digital membership database development.
EWEA, established in 2007 with the aim to address the challenges peculiar to women entrepreneurs' in Ethiopia, has since been actively working towards propelling women entrepreneurs in to economic, social and political spheres of influence.
