De Beers Group and United Nations (UN) Women have extended their partnership to empower women entrepreneurs in southern Africa for three years.
The programme was first launched in 2017 as an AWOME programme and later renamed EntreprenHER.
It has supported almost 2,500 women entrepreneurs of micro-enterprises in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa to grow and formalise their businesses, create more jobs and generate more secure incomes.
De Beers said the next phase of the programme will support an additional 1,500 women entrepreneurs across the three countries through capacity building in areas covering business and life skills, networking and mentoring.
“Building on learnings to date, the programme will now include a greater focus on digital literacy and will also introduce small grants and loans for eligible businesses, as access to finance was ranked a key barrier to growth by past participants,” it said
“There will also be an enhanced focus on engaging women business owners in traditionally male-dominated sectors, such as car mechanics, carpentry, and plumbing, as well as supporting women farmers to adopt Climate Smart Agriculture technologies to improve productivity and resilience.”
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, from Cape Town, South Africa, Rough&Polished
