Countries
Malawi, Zambia, Namibia

Local project partners:
Malawi: Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Department of Agribusiness Management (LUANAR), Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM)
Namibia: Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade (MIT)
Sambia: Bank of Zambia (BoZ)

German project partners:
Malawi: --
Namibia: Kreissparkasse Saarlouis
Zambia: Kreissparkasse Esslingen-Nürtingen

Donor
BMZ

Duration
01.08.2020 - 31.07.2026

Common to all project countries is a significantly unequal distribution of income, and, in some places, an explicit poverty challenge. MSMEs suffer from a lack of access to financial services, also due to a lack of commercial knowledge and management skills. As a result, their contribution to growth and employment suffers.

The regional project contributes to strengthening the role of small agricultural and non-agricultural enterprises in terms of economic development and employment. To this end, the project aims to improve the skills and entrepreneurial abilities of entrepreneurs and thus improve their access to financial services. In the financial sector, including the supervisory bodies, educational opportunities in previously neglected areas of micro- and SME financing will be improved. Special focus is placed on strengthening the project partners as direct education providers and the sustainability of the offer.

Project Tasks

The central tasks of the project are to improve commercial and entrepreneurial skills in small businesses. To this end, local intermediaries, institutions and trainers are being set up to actively teach these topics. In addition, training courses are being developed for employees of financial and microfinance institutions in order to improve understanding of the target group. In terms of sustainability, the institutional and educational quality of the respective project partners is a cross-cutting theme of the project. Regional networking and the exchange of resources and knowledge also strengthen the sustainability of the results.