On Wednesday, July 27, 2022, BRAVE Women Nigeria began officially communicating to selected project beneficiaries for the second cohort. This comes nearly two months after the second call for applications closed, following a round of screening and reviews.
Selected beneficiaries will receive training on business continuity management and access hand-holding support from the project Business Development Support Organizations. Completing the training will allow beneficiaries to apply for the Project’s grant matching funds which seek to provide women-owned/led Small and Medium scale Entreprises (SMEs), lead firms and business associations with matching support ranging from USD 5,000 to USD 50,000.
The Project has the mandate to improve the sustainability of women-owned/led SMEs to develop and increase the economic opportunities for female entrepreneurs through skills training aimed at building resilience in targeted value chains.
Speaking about BRAVE Women Nigeria, Debbie Isehihen (Edo State project beneficiary in the first cohort) said: “The training has been a very wonderful time. Some of the things we were doing in our business, they have told us, may not necessarily be the right way. This training has given us the technical know-how of doing things the right way”. To watch, click here. Another project beneficiary in the first batch, Christiana Maina Adams (Gombe State), said: “I have learnt how to improve my marketing strategies, diversify and reduce costs in my business.”
Following the announcement, selected beneficiaries can expect to receive the full support of the Project until the end of this current project cycle.
About BRAVE Women Nigeria
Business Resilience Assistance for Value-adding Enterprises for Women in Nigeria (BRAVE Women Nigeria) is part of a wider initiative funded by the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) and implemented through the Islamic Development Bank. Nigeria’s Bank of Industry is executing it. It combines training elements for 600 firms and grant-matching support for 500 WSMEs, 20-30 lead firms, and 10 business associations to support growth and resilience. The Project seeks to enable an empowering business environment for women entrepreneurs in Nigeria and strengthen their resilience. This project phase is being implemented in Edo, Gombe and Kano States and is expected to end in 2023.
