NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has approved a $1.4 million technical assistance grant to Export Trading Group (ETG) for the funding of women-owned businesses in three countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. ETG is one of the largest and fastest-growing integrated agricultural supply chain managers and processors in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The project will enable 600 women-led businesses in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia (200 in each country), to improve their entrepreneurship skills through training under ETG’s Women Entrepreneurship and Employability project. The project’s main objective is to increase the efficiency of targeted women-owned and led small and medium-sized enterprises employed in ETG’s operations. The project will run until 2025.

Of the financing for the grant, $1.4 million will come from African Development Bank-managed We-Fi (https://We-Fi.org) grant resources, which will be utilized to undertake a diagnostic study and capacity building of the selected enterprises in the major ETG locations. Additional co-financing of up to $400,000 will come from ETG for the employability aspects of the project. It will also be used to facilitate collaboration with financial institutions and other relevant stakeholders.

Photo courtesy of Bioversity International.