The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) Women in Microbusiness training program is being launched in Kazakhstan to support women entrepreneurs facing social or economic obstacles in their business activities.
Statistics show that whilst women manage 49 percent of all micro and small-sized businesses in Kazakhstan, their representation in medium and large business sectors is only 36 percent and 19 percent, respectively.
Reporting on the initiative, Alma Kasymova, head of the EBRD’s SME (small- and medium-sized enterprises) Program in Kazakhstan, stated, “Our main goal and mission is to empower women entrepreneurs to grow and develop their micro-enterprises through affordable and quality training. We are confident that this program will help participants to expand their competencies and open new perspectives in larger business segments.”
The training, conducted online in Kazakh and Russian, will run for five months and comprise six business modules in marketing, sales, finance, human resources, operational management, strategic planning, as well as automation and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Participants will be able to enrol at any time convenient for them. .
Welcoming its launch, an EBRD spokesperson announced, “This is the third implementation of the program -realized in collaboration with the training and consulting company Dialog . Previous projects allowed almost 1,500 women entrepreneurs to strengthen their skills and improve their businesses. “
