Unilever, Absa Bank to train 100,000 businesswomen
A woman sells at an expo held to empower female entrepreneurs held in Nairobi, last March. Unilever, Absa Bank and Unitar have partnered to train businesswomen on financial literacy and advertising to grow their businesses.
What you need to know:
- Unilever, Absa Bank and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (Unitar) plan to train at least 5,000 businesswomen this year.
- Five-year program dubbed ‘Sunlight Women of More’ will see 100,000 by trained by 2026.
Three organisations have come together to train women entrepreneurs in the country on financial literacy and advertising to grow their businesses.
Through a five-year program dubbed ‘Sunlight Women of More’, Unilever, Absa Bank and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (Unitar) plan to train at least 5,000 women this year and 100,000 by 2026.
“Sunlight is committed to helping more than100,000 Kenyan women entrepreneurs to develop their businesses into sustainable and profitable ventures by 2026. We will do this through tools and partnerships that allow them to become ‘More’,” said Henry Muchauraya, Unilever’s Homecare Director for East Africa in a statement released yesterday.
The organisations say women-owned businesses have grown to constitute 48 per cent of micro-small and medium-sized enterprises in the country, contributing about 20 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), a factor that calls for support for them to grow.
Covid-19 pandemic
“Women are still faced with real and perceptual hurdles that have tipped the scales against them, making it difficult for them to access certain opportunities. The Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to more entrepreneurs, and we believe that with the right financial literacy, these businesses can grow exponentially,” said Elizabeth Wasunna, Absa’s Business Banking Director.
The bank, she noted, encourages as many women entrepreneurs as possible to register their businesses, formalise their operations and maintain good records of their transactions.
“These are important factors that not only determine entrepreneurs’ ability to attract investment and credit, but also scale their businesses to the next level” added Ms Wasunna.
Unitar Director for Division for Prosperity Mihoko Kumamoto said Covid-19 had significantly delayed and derailed the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), affecting marginalised populations, such as women, more than others.
Media visibility
“Women need to become leaders and agents of change in their communities and societies – programs such as ‘Sunlight Women of More’ greatly increase this likelihood,” Ms Mihoko said.
Businesses that qualify for the program will benefit from media visibility through adverts and other forms of out of home adverts, as well as education on professional running of the business.
The training will also encourage peer learning, knowledge sharing, and the formation of a network of like-minded practitioners and entrepreneurs in Kenya and in the region.
To be eligible, one must own a business that has been in operation for at least one year, be keen to learn and highly motivated to succeed to provide positive impact to the society.
