The Impact One Million Women in ECCAS program is an innovative partnership between the Gender, Human and Social Development Commission of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), health and business experts, and the B. LEAD’HER NETWORK and ACADEMY. LEAD’HER NETWORK and ACADEMY. This partnership aims to initiate an ambitious pilot phase to train and equip 1,000,000 girls and women across the 11 countries of the ECCAS zone in high-impact community and environmental fields such as digital, health, agriculture, employability and entrepreneurship. Designed to respond to the major challenges facing women, young people and SMEs in today’s economy, this project represents a strategic initiative to promote the economic and social empowerment of women in the region, and to boost the region’s entrepreneurial dynamism, which lags behind that of Africa’s other 07 economic regions.
The program, entitled “Impact 1,000,000 women in the ECCAS sub-region for 2024-2030”, aims to specifically address the obstacles faced by young girls and women entrepreneurs. For young girls, these challenges include a lack of transferable skills and employability, low familiarity with digital tools, a deficit of relevant work experience and limited support networks. As for women entrepreneurs, they face challenges such as insufficient business management skills, limited access to finance, lack of adequate information, difficulties in accessing markets and networks, as well as under-representation in business support ecosystems.