Recognizing the unique challenges faced by women seeking trade
support services in Africa, ITC developed the ACCESS! programme in
2005 with the goal of providing greater participation of African
businesswomen in international trade.
Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency, the
programme provides exporter training, business counselling,
business information and networking. It has already worked with
over 600 female entrepreneurs in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia,
Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and
Uganda.
In 2006 Tunisia became the 11th country to implement the ACCESS!
programme, with the financial support of La Maison de
l'Exportateur-Tunisie (Tunisian exporters' house), through the
Fonds d'Accès aux Marchés d'Exportation (Fund for Access to Export
Markets).
The pilot project in Tunisia
Following the success of six training workshops that reached more
than 60 businesswomen, ACCESS! Tunisia has already extended its
core training and business counselling activities and developed
targeted microcredit support for its clients.
Two groups of micro-entrepreneurs, each comprising ten artisans
from Tozeur in the south and Kef in north-western Tunisia, have
benefited from additional and special training in product
innovation in the handicraft sector. This pilot project allowed the
participants to better understand international market trends and
to create market niches, develop prototypes and test the
receptiveness of foreign markets.
Trainees learned to develop apparel and homeware collections
that met international trends both in fashion and in the standards
of quality expected in developed country markets. They began
working with a whole new range of colours, patterns and fabrics,
which gave them much greater potential to export their products
than they had had previously. The women were also assisted in
developing new marketing tools such as samples, price lists and
promotional catalogues.
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International market response
In autumn 2008, once the collections were considered ready to be
sold overseas, two key market contacts visited the groups. One was
an upmarket homeware store in the United Kingdom and the other a
French non-governmental organization,
Batik International ,
whose mandate is to create employment in developing countries
through targeted support for ethnic product shops and local
communities. The experience provided the artisans with invaluable
experience and confidence in pitching their wares to international
markets. It also helped the ACCESS! team to better hone this
innovative programme.
Finally, some of the artisans travelled to Strasbourg in France
to present their products at the first Euro-Mediterranean Women
Micro-Entrepreneurs Exhibition in November 2008. This trade mission
was a true eye-opener for many of the women, a large number of whom
had never travelled abroad. Commercial contracts were signed and
most of the businesswomen were introduced to new clients and
international buyers. As a result, they were able to enhance their
understanding of selling techniques and commercial
transactions.
Enda, the microcredit association under which this initiative
was developed and delivered, provided essential support in
financing raw materials, developing prototypes and purchasing new
production tools, which improved the quality of the products while
reducing production time and increasing the potential
profitability.
Through this joint initiative, the ACCESS! Tunisia team and its
focal point institution, La Maison de l'Exportateur-Tunisie, have
helped to create entirely new collections of artisanal objects
inspired by Tunisian culture and heritage. It's a unique and
dynamic way of preserving traditions while stimulating business and
impacting positively on the local community - and an innovative and
enriching experience the team will be happy to share with other
countries and businesswomen around the world.
For more information on the ACCESS! programme in Tunisia and
elsewhere, contact Sébastien
Turrel, Trade Adviser and ACCESS! Manager or Leila Ben-Gacem,
ACCESS! trainer in Tunisia.