Project profile — Accelerating women's business growth

The Accelerating Women’s Business Growth (AWBG) project advances gender equality within Ethiopia's private sector while fostering financial returns aligned with investor expectations. The project supports women entrepreneurs, executives, and managers in overcoming systemic barriers hindering small and medium enterprise (SME) growth and career advancement. The project aims to promote economic growth by generating 9,000 quality jobs for individuals in rural and urban areas, focusing on empowering women through leadership roles. Also, it aims to attract CAD 81 million in capital investments into gender-smart SMEs in Ethiopia. Project activities include: (1) establishing a women entrepreneur collective, a virtual and in-person training platform for smaller companies to learn from and network with larger ones; (2) providing training and investor facilitation support tailored to various women-owned SMEs; and (3) building gender or impact-focused investors awareness of Ethiopian investment opportunities in gender smart SMEs.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) strengthened representation and participation in the private sector by women-owned and gender- and environment-smart SMEs in Ethiopia; (2) improved enabling environment for women employees, entrepreneurs, and SMEs; and (3) increased effectiveness in attracting capital and growing successful gender-smart SMEs.

Results achieved as of March 2023 include: (1) launched the Isua Network, a cohort-based training and peer-to-peer mentorship platform for women-owned businesses. The network received more than 100 applications and accepted 94 companies in the first round of invitations; (2) hosted 26 executives, of which more than two-thirds were women, for the Accelerated Gender Smart Executive’s Program training. More than 76% of women who participated in the program reported feeling more confident and able to make independent business and management decisions; and (3) mobilized CAD 207,700 in investment for a gender-smart SME in Ethiopia.