Brief Description of Proposed Action: In selected countries, the implementation of the FCEM WEWIN programme (Women Entrepreneurs Window of Opportunity). WEWIN favours the reinforcement of women-owned enterprises (WEs) with growth potential to develop their businesses by building the BDS capacities of national associations of women entrepreneurs.

WEWIN as a technical and institutional capacity building programme delivers assistance through training, equipping, building and consolidating strategic alliances (north-south and south-south) and accompaniment for the strengthening of national associations of women-owned enterprises (WEAs).

WEWIN assists the WEAs in strengthening of administration, operational and management skills and their ability to deliver value-added services notably export trade promotion, partnering and networking opportunities.

Problems to be resolved and the needs to be met are those identified through needs assessment analysis based on research and a continental study and various country-specific studies. For example for the African continent studies carried out by the AfDB in close collaboration with the ILO, as well as on-going FCEM reports, findings and requests from its member national associations in Africa, that indicate: among obstacles and needs to be met for growth of African enterprises, include: lack of adequate business development services, access to regional and international networking and market access; the need for technical assistance programs to develop the institutional capacity for national associations of women entrepreneurs and ICT and business skills of women entrepreneurs and the need to promote and develop the potential of businesswomen associations as BDS service providers, and to bring more valuable assets to assist growth-oriented enterprises.

The actors and beneficiaries directly and indirectly involved include:

The target groups are the National Associations of Women Business Owners. The associations participating are pre-selected based upon meeting the criteria of access, current utilisation and availability of Internet and ICT in their respective countries, as well as their potential to centralize the training of women business owners.

The final beneficiaries of the programme are the companies (enterprises) of the women entrepreneurs that are members of the participating (target group) national associations of women business-owners.

Project objectives and expected results:

The objective is to contribute to the development of women-owned enterprises by favoring investment, technology flows, and business networks for women entrepreneurs in general and in particular those in key sectors including tourism, agro-business, ICT and Textiles, etc. through:

° Technical and Institutional Capacity building and reinforcing of intermediary women entrepreneurs associations (WEAs) in their role and activity of promoting business development.

° Economic empowering of women-owned enterprise (WEs) through the strengthening of their capacities to access and to integrate into the global economy and regional and international networks.

Results and Benefits Expected:

° Infrastructures and management are reinforced and they are promoting members interests and providing Business Development Services (BDS) and support to women entrepreneurs.

° Trainers are trained and utilizing FCEM-CandGo Platforms, are networking and managing their associations with on-line tools.

° Have acquired ICT skills, are equipped with web sites, provide on-line business training, mentoring, enterprise creation and financing sources.

° Are generating revenue inflow, reinforcing their sustainability through the FCEM-CandGo business model and are contributing directly to the creation of ICT and business services sector enterprises.

Final beneficiaries, the individual women owned enterprises …

° have access to business management training and skills development and markets, networks and information.

° are trained and are utilizing the FCEM-CandGo Platform for communication, networking, business intelligence, commercial management.

° are affordably promoting and marketing their products or services, their offer or demand on the Worldwide Web through their presence in the CandGo B2B Marketplace and Buyer-supplier exchange,

° are seeking out, contacting and contracting with potential partners and are creating north-south and south-south partnerships, virtually, through the FCEM-CandGo Internet Platform Partnership Bourse and, physically, through their participation in regional and international FCEM partnership programmes

° business services provider enterprises in the participating countries have been created to meet the needs of FCEM-CandGo ICT training, the realization of company web sites and presentation in the B2B marketplace (utilizing the on-line Platform tools), for example the development of enterprises such as Business Cyber Centers, Web Site design and mastering, e-Marketing and Management firms, etc…

This programme as well complements a major pilot project under development by the African Development Bank which includes the WEWIN component that will be implemented in the Western Africa Sahel region. It also builds synergies with a programme to be launched in early 2007 by the African Development Bank in collaboration with the Union of Industry of Cameroon (GICAM) in Cameroon for the reinforcing access to international market and reinforcing the capacities of businesses wherein 250 women-owned enterprises will be beneficiaries.

Delivery structures reinforcement: intermediary institutional and technical capacity building through training in ICT and associative management and workplace infrastructure:

° SWOT diagnosis and elaboration and implementation of association strategic action plan,
° Outfitting with ICT equipment and skills,
° Associative management training and technical assistance and accompaniment.
° Setting up of value-added assistance and services for the members of the national association

ICT capacity building through training and adaptation of FCEM-CandGo Virtual Office Internet Platform technology by the intermediary organization and the individual woman business owner:

° Training of the trainers in ICT for associative and entrepreneur applications,
° Web site creation or upgrading for WEAs as a marketing and info tool,
° Training for FCEM-CandGo business and marketing model for support services and revenue generation.

National marketing and promotion by the WEAs of the FCEM-CandGo Platforms:

Project sustainability: This programme addresses, on the one hand, building the institutional and technical capacities of WEAs so that they have the wherewithal to effectively manage the business side of associations, to assure the longevity and impact of the association; and on the other hand this programme provides through ICT, the opportunity for annual residual income flows and revenue generation for the association. WEWIN, in essence, provides the means (tools) for the associations to achieve -- on their own, through their own engagement -- sustainability and self reliance.

WEWIN multiplier effect: The concept of WEWIN is that it can be easily duplicated around the world, in particular for countries in development and transition. The WEWIN programme therefore can easily be replicated in the other ACP regions of the world through the partnerships with regional development agencies and banks including the Asian Development Bank, InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), African Development Bank. As the WEWIN programme is based as well upon training the trainer in ICT application and utilisation, this reinforces the multiplication of knowledge sharing and the transfer of know-how (and technology) at the local and national level.