The Enterprise Development Facility (EDF) for Women Entrepreneurs
Objectives of the EDF
The Enterprise Development Facilities (EDF) initiative was launched in 1998 by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), as a follow-up to the recommendations adopted by the Africa-Asia Forum on the Economic Empowerment of Women, held in Bangkok, Thailand, in July 1997.
The initiative to set up two pilot EDFs has been articulated around 6 major objectives, namely:
• To create and strengthen national, regional and international networks for exchange of information and partnership among women entrepreneurs and stakeholders working in the area of enterprise development such as:
• Specialized institutions of production technologies;
• Financial institutions;
• Training and research institutions;
• Chambers of Commerce and Industries; and
• Micro, small and medium enterprises development agencies
• To facilitate women entrepreneurs' access to information related to markets and prices, regional and international trade fairs and exhibitions, legal and judicial requirements for business development, capital markets and access to financial resources, etc.
• To organize capacity building activities for members of the EDF on various issues such as skill development in ITC, business management, etc.
• To create a learning process/framework for technical apprenticeship and coaching young women who want to establish business enterprises.
• To create a database on women entrepreneurs in Africa and other institutions and structures that provide technical assistance to entrepreneurship development, and
• To organize study tours and exchanges of experiences within and outside Africa.
Progress Achieved Since the Launch
• In 1998 , a study tour to India and Sri Lanka was undertaken and allowed African women entrepreneurs to acquire knowledge of available technologies adapted to medium- sized industries in the textile and food processing sectors. It also provided them with an opportunity to learn the process of transforming, conserving and packaging of agricultural food products. The tour was an entry point for the participants to network with entrepreneurs in similar lines of businesses as well as with training and technology institutions. It facilitated the identification of areas for South-South cooperation, especially in the transfer of technology, training, exchange of information and trade.
• In 1999 , as per the request of women entrepreneurs, a feasibility study on the setting up of sub-regional support mechanisms was carried out by the ECA. The objective of the study was to assess the technical and institutional environment in which women entrepreneurs were operating and propose ways and means of addressing their expressed needs. The study led to the design of the EDF as an institutional response for meeting the technical needs and expectation of women entrepreneurs.
• In year 2000, ECA organized training workshops which provided the forum that African women entrepreneurs needed to network and familiarize themselves with technologies used in the processing, conservation and packaging of agricultural food products.
Operationalization of the EDFs - Phase I
Once the preliminary activities of the initiative were finalized, ECA started in 2001 a partnership programme with various stakeholders such as the Commonwealth Secretariat, l' Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine ( UEMOA) , l' Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie, the C hambers of Commerce and Industries of Togo, and the Governments of Togo and Uganda, to set up the two sub-regional Enterprise Development Facilities as follows:
• The West Africa Enterprise Development Facility (WA -EDF)
In collaboration with the Government of Togo, WA-EDF was launched in June 2001, in Lome, Togo. Countries covered by WA-EDF are: Bénin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinée, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
One of the key recommendations of the launching workshop was that EDF should develop a website to facilitate women entrepreneurs' access to relevant business information, and to network among themselves and with partners. The development of the EDF website, therefore, became a key component of the Project.
• The East Africa Enterprise Development Facility (EA-EDF)
In accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between ECA and the Government of Uganda, EA-EDF was launched in May 2003 in Kampala, Uganda. EA-EDF is housed within the Uganda Industrial Research Institute of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Countries covered by the EA-EDF are: Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Seychelles, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
The EDF Website: http://www.edf-rifed.com/
As per the recommendation of the launching workshop in Lomé, ECA/ACGD endeavoured to design and populate a special EDF website which has become the main channel for information assimilation and dissemination. The website has been designed in such a way that it allows its users to access useful, well analyzed and processed business information.
The EDF website serves as:
* A space for information sharing and promotion (offer/request of products and services, finance, events, technology training, etc);
*A space for training (marketing, management, legal issues, etc);
* A space for networking and mutual assistance (women entrepreneurs, women associations, promotional service providers, useful links, etc.)
Operationalization of the EDF - Phase II
• In 2004, the EDF was registered as an autonomous institution in Lome, Togo.
• In July 2004, ACGD organized a meeting of stakeholders to discuss on the legal framework of the EDF and on the short term transitional plan of action for running the EDF as an independent entity.
Operationalization of the EDF - Phase III
* In 2005, the first General Assembly of the EDF as an autonomous institution was convened to examine and adopt the EDF constitution and its by-laws.
• The Steering Committee ((comprising partners and donors) also held its meeting the same year and set out its own rules of procedure.
