Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in Egypt
- Programme: Micro-Enterprise Accelerator
- Country: Kenya
- 690 micro-entrepreneurs completed the programme with an average score of 69 per cent
- Partners: Arab Women’s Enterprise Fund, Enclude Solutions, and Tasaheel Microfinance
The Arab Women’s Enterprise Fund and Enclude Solutions wanted to empower women micro-entrepreneurs in Egypt. Female business owners face far more hurdles than their male counterparts; AMI was asked to help bridge the gap. In partnership, the three organisations determined three areas where women entrepreneurs needed more skills and knowledge: digital financial services, financial products and services, and business growth strategies.
Recruited through Tasaheel Microfinance, 1,095 micro-entrepreneurs, mostly women, signed up for the six-month programme. The participants, called Strivers for their ambition to grow, learned practical business skills such as bookkeeping, marketing, business planning, and leveraging digital payments—all in Arabic.
The marketing tips I learned via the marketing course convinced me to complete the rest of the courses
Hend Gamal
Micro-entrepreneur Hend Gamal owned a cosmetics retail shop but didn’t know how to expand beyond her ten clients. Soon after beginning the course, she saw the value of the programme. “The marketing tips I learned via the marketing course convinced me to complete the rest of the courses,” she said. “I applied some of these tips, such as using the network of fellow trainees, to expand my sales range.” Four months after completing the programme, she had expanded her client base to 60 individuals.
Other Strivers reported expanding their businesses, using digital platforms to collect payments, or developing new collaborations. In the end, 690 participants completed the course, scoring an average of 69 per cent on assignments and exams, a remarkable achievement for a cohort with no previous business training, and an important step toward meeting their economic potential.
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