JUBA – South Sudan on Thursday launched a 10 million U.S. dollar Women Entrepreneurial Opportunity Facility project to empower women-led small and medium enterprises in Juba.
The two-year Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare led project, funded by the World Bank, aims to equip women with business skills, financial skills, technical advisory services, and business financing to grow their businesses
In her key remarks during the launch of the project on Thursday in Juba, Aya Benjamin Warille, Minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, said the project will offers women with access to financial support, training, and resources to enable them to grow their businesses.
“Today marks the beginning of the transformative path of 1,200 women-led emerging micro, small, medium, and large enterprises here in Juba, South Sudan. The Women Entrepreneurial Opportunity Facility initiative, generously supported by the World Bank,” Benjamin said during the launch of the project on Thursday in Juba.
Benjamin said the Juba pilot project was aimed to offer tailored help to women entrepreneurs to solve challenges affecting them in the market.
“We acknowledge the various challenges that women encounter in the entrepreneurial sector, including limited access to capital, insufficient training, and lack of networking opportunities. The Women Entrepreneurial Opportunity Facility has been meticulously designed to address these barriers, offering tailored support to women entrepreneurs,” she said.
For his part, Cosmas Ayella, Deputy Program Director of International Rescue Committee, said the project will break barriers facing women in business.
“This project represents a very significant milestone in empowering over 1,200 women-owned, small, medium, and large-scale businesses in South Sudan by equipping them with business skills and financial skills, technical advisory services, and business financing to grow their businesses,” said Ayella.
He said, this project will strengthen women’s resilience to improve their businesses and promote wider social and economic growth
“We do all know that women entrepreneurs everywhere are the backbone of an economy in South Sudan; we need to support these women to become the backbone of our economy in South Sudan. They face barriers that limit their full potential, including limited business and financial skills and difficulties in accessing loans.”
