The objective is to train businesswomen, using a State Department online tool called DreamBuilder
In observance of International Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Fiona Evans, launched a year-long nationwide project for the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) 2022 in the U.S. Embassy, Addis Ababa.
In her remarks, DCM Evans highlighted the importance of partnership between the United States and Ethiopia. “Empowering women entrepreneurs benefits not only individual families, it also contributes to the Ethiopian economy overall.” The DCM invited recruits to take advantage of the targeted training to enhance their businesses and startups.
AWE is a U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs initiative that gives enterprising women from around the world the knowledge, networks, and access they need to launch and scale-up successful businesses. The Center for Accelerated Women’s Economic Empowerment (CAWEE) is the organization in charge of the project in Ethiopia, and CAWEE CEO, Nigest Haile, who is also an alumna of the U.S. Embassy’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), led discussions during the event.
AWE 2022 will provide expanded training for women entrepreneurs in Dire Dawa, Jimma, and Addis Ababa. The objective is to train businesswomen, using a State Department online tool called DreamBuilder, which is a free training program developed for women entrepreneurs. Interested participants can contact CAWEE for registration: info@cawee-ethiopia.com or Frewoyni@cawee-ethiopia.com.
The Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa is sponsoring the AWE project for the second year in a row. In the program’s first year, 61 businesswomen from Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar benefited from training and other opportunities. Among last year’s participants, four outstanding projects won a USA Development Fund (USADF) grant of over 500,000 birr equaling USD $10,000.00 each to scale-up their proposals.
AWE 2022 is another example of the American people partnering with the people of Ethiopia for a bright future.
