GOPA Worldwide Consultants, in partnership with GOPA AFC, completed implementation of the Industrialisation and Women's Economic Empowerment project at the end of May 2024 on behalf of GIZ Botswana and SADC (under the CESARE programme). 

This ambitious project, which started in December 2021, celebrated a number of extraordinary milestones: 

• Development of a SADC Financial Inclusion Gender Action Plan and a Strategy for Gender Responsive Budgeting / Procurement.
• Development of a toolkit for business development service providers, including entrepreneurial and financial education materials, as well as a toolkit on financial inclusion for financial service providers in SADC.
• Implementation of a local subsidies programme across 14 (!) SADC Member States targeting non-profit organisations supporting female entrepreneurs.
• Targeted support of a range of regional value chains, including leather, agro-processing, light industry, and pharma.   

We thank the team for their hard work and dedication to promoting women's economic empowerment in SADC, and are confident that project achievements will continue to have a positive impact in the years to come.   

The picture is from the Regional Workshop on Women's Financial Inclusion and Economic Empowerment that took place in Johannesburg in November 2023.