Press releases

ACCESS! Namibia to train national trainers for women to tap new markets, increase exports

23 September 2014
ITC News

(Windhoek) The International Trade Centre’s (ITC) ACCESS! Programme in Namibia launches a training-of-trainers workshop for equipping candidate ACCESS! national trainers with knowledge and skills.

The 10-day workshop will be held in the capital of Windhoek from 23 September to 3 October. The project is funded and initiated by the Namibian Ministry of Trade and Industry and implemented by the Namibia Trade Forum, which serves as the national ACCESS! focal-point institution.

Designed to strengthen the capacity of women exporters in Africa, ACCESS! aims to help them realize their economic potential and thereby contribute to poverty reduction and improved standards of living.

‘Increasing income equality through the promotion of Namibian women economic empowerment is a priority of the Government of Namibia,’ said the Honorable Tjekero Tweya, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry. ‘ACCESS! is an inclusive and strategic response to constraints faced by Namibian businesswomen who are seeking to export to regional and international markets.’

The goal of the training-of-trainers workshop is for certified ACCESS! regional lead trainers to share with the Namibian National Team of Trainers their knowledge of the needs of women-owned enterprises and the constraints they face in exporting goods and services.

‘This ACCESS! training workshop is a crucial first step in the certification of ACCESS! national trainers, allowing candidate trainers to become familiar with packaging, marketing, negotiation and export finance,’ said Dorothy Tembo, ITC’s Deputy Executive Director. ‘These trainers will train women entrepreneurs to enable them to tap new markets and increase their exports.’

Fifteen candidate trainers from the public and private sectors – including trade support institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises, higher-education institutions and non-governmental organizations – are taking part in the training programme.

‘The diversity of participants’ backgrounds is impressive,’ said Ndiitah Nghipondoka-Robiati, Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Trade Forum. ‘Selected candidates’ competency and experience levels are very high.’

The event will also provide the opportunity to launch the development of a National Implementation Strategy to sustain the programme impact by setting out the vision for ACCESS! in the country, aligning all relevant partners along the same vision and becoming a key instrument to mobilize funds.

Namibia becomes the 20th Sub-Saharan country in which ACCESS! is executed.

The ACCESS! in Namibia Programme is jointly implemented by ITC and the Namibia Trade Forum, with the support of the Government of Namibia, through the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

ITC is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. ITC assists small and medium-sized enterprises in developing and transition economies to become more competitive in global markets, thereby contributing to sustainable economic development within the frameworks of the Aid-for-Trade agenda and the Millennium Development Goals.

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