Evolvin’ Women, a social enterprise dedicated to the advancement of women in developing areas, has virtually signed an MoU with the Centre for Accelerated Women’s Economic Empowerment (CAWEE), for the skills development of women in Ethiopia.

The one-year agreement, facilitated and supported by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s representative office in Ethiopia, will see the training and development of emerging female entrepreneurs who are beneficiaries of CAWEE. Evolvin’ Women will work with the entrepreneurs to help accelerate their business development and offer them an array of business support including training, services and resources to facilitate their financial success and freestanding.

The agreement will also see Evolvin’ Women advocate for the advancement of women in Ethiopia through leveraging local relationships with key decision makers and stakeholders to secure funds for the program and to provide the entrepreneurs with the resources they need to succeed.

As the program commences, the training will be customised to the business needs of the entrepreneurs and Evolvin’ Women will further support them with the development of business plans and networking to help their businesses grow. The training will serve as an incubator program that will support their businesses throughout the design thinking process and startup phase to increase their prospects of success. The graduates of the course will be empowered to commercialise their products and services, create jobs and benefit their country’s economy.

By encouraging social entrepreneurship and by promoting female entrepreneurship, Evolvin’ Women found strength and diversity in the hospitality and manufacturing sectors and recommends that a combination of specialised facilities, programs and services focused on these businesses would offer the greatest economic benefit to rural communities in Africa.

Assia Riccio, Founder of Evolvin’ Women said: “We are very pleased to have partnered with CAWEE, a pioneer trade promotion organization operating in Ethiopia to provide the capacity building support needed to female entrepreneurs. With the immense support of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce of Industry, we aim to provide new and emerging entrepreneurs with an environment that supports their start-up phase and increases their likelihood of success. When women succeed at business, everyone else succeeds, and communities can flourish.”

Omar Khan, Director of International Offices at Dubai Chamber said: “I congratulate Evolvin’ Women and CAWEE on their strategic partnership, which will undoubtedly generate tremendous potential for expanding UAE-Ethiopia economic ties. This important collaboration complements the existing work that Dubai Chamber’sEthiopiaOffice does with CAWEE to promote and foster cross-border cooperation in key areas of mutual interest and provide technical support and training to the projects and initiatives that advance economic empowerment among women.”

He added: “Dubai’s business training Industry has very high standards. It is highly exportable and has the capacity for much greater utilisation. Dubai Chamber is committed to helping businesses of all sizes and stages of development expand into Africa, including startups and SMEs. It does this through its extensive business support ecosystem, which includes International Offices, Dubai Startup Hub, Dubai Business Women Council, research, and the Global Business Forum (GBF) series. Our comprehensive support has already helped Evolvin’Women be introduced to partners in Kenya and we are currently working with them in Ghana, where they are now licenced.”

Nigest Haile, Founder and Executive Director, at CAWEEsaid: “We are proud to partner with organizations like Evolvin’ Women and Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to provide the female entrepreneurs with the best training and support they need. Empowering women economically is the key to social and economic development, and we are strongly invested in all the women we work with to see their talents and capabilities come to fruition, expecting tangible results in their lives, their businesses and opportunities expected they can bring out in employing others.”

Earlier this year, Evolvin’ Women launched their first social entrepreneurship course in partnership with Amity University Dubai and the Dubai Business Women Council. Through this partnership Evolvin’ Women participants have had access to Amity University Incubator Centre for 12 months while continuing their skill development placements with its hotel partners. Based on the evaluation of the social entrepreneurship course, Evolvin’ Women grew this course into an incubator for social entrepreneurs from Africa as an appropriate and logical extension of Evolvin’ Women current organization and mission.

For more information, visit https://www.evolvinwomen.com/