Egypt: SheTrades (AfTIAS)
Overview
Summary
The proposed project focuses on supporting businesswomen in the handicraft sector in Egypt to sustain and grow their business with a view to contributing actively to the welfare of their families and securing livelihoods.
The project will help Egyptians women owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the handicraft sector to integrate into domestic and global value chains and access new markets by assisting SMEs to deliver products in accordance with market requirements, improving the capacities of trade support institutions (TSIs) to provide quality business support services to women owned SMEs, and linking SMEs to new markets.
Recipients
Partners
Sustainable Development Goals
Women economic empowerment in the handicraft sector.
The International Trade Centre’s flagship initiative on women and trade, SheTrades, has launched a new chapter in Egypt to empower and boost the competitiveness of women-owned micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the handicraft sector.
The project’s overarching objective is women’s economic empowerment as part of the country’s inclusive and sustainable development and economic growth.
The project will provide women-led small businesses with trainings on production, packaging, logistics, trade information, quality management, and sector-specific marketing and sales.
Fifty targeted women-owned small businesses will benefit from adopting best export practices and connecting with export markets and buyers, translating into increased resources and growth of their businesses.
Assisting trade support institutions to enhance services to women
To ensure strong support for women entrepreneurs entering new markets, the project will also provide advisory services, trainings and technical guidance to the Export Development Authority of Egypt and selected trade support institutions to establish more effective trade institutional frameworks for women-owned businesses.
SheTrades Egypt will:
- Train trade support institutions on gender and how to mainstream gender in their institutions
- Help institutions understand the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs and how to build up their capacity to trade
- Provide support on trade information services, market development and quality management
- Advise buyers on how to better engage with women entrepreneurs, providing online and offline training, best practices and helping them commit to sourcing goods and services from participating women entrepreneurs
- Support select trade institutions who take a lead role in mobilizing buyers and ensure effective business-to-business links
