Regulations & Syllabus for the Women's Business Incubation Program - Women's Economic Empowerment

Abstract

The focus on women’s economic empowerment is currently a global priority. Women’s economic empowerment is the process of achieving women’s equal access to and control of economic resources and being able to make decisions on how to use these resources. However, on their way to economic empowerment, women have to overcome a number of barriers such as cultural barriers and social protection; support systems and leadership; ownership of property and assets; level of education, skills development, and training. The Women’s Economic Empowerment Hub of the University of Nairobi (UoN WEE Hub) aims at contributing to the full realization of women’s economic empowerment for the purpose of transforming Kenyan women’s lives, that of their families and communities, as well as strengthening and growing Kenya’s economy. To achieve this objective, the UoN WEE Hub developed a three-year Women’s Business Incubation (WBI) Program. The WBI will provide entrepreneurial knowledge, skills, and support to women entrepreneurs in developing and growing their businesses and becoming more competitive, both locally and internationally. The WBI Curriculum is a tool designed to provide foundational courses that can be used for developing tailor-made training, coaching and mentorship as well as to create strong networks and linkages with successful women entrepreneurs engaged in MSMEs and in relevant industries. The training will be participatory, action-oriented, and include simulated learning activities; role-play; brainstorming; group debates and discussions; individual work and assignments; talks by successful entrepreneurs and any other appropriate activities. In this age of technology and considering women’s triple roles, the training will also be conducted online to allow women to attend their businesses and other roles. The WBI curriculum comprises seven (7) Modules divided into four Units each, plus a fifth Unit on Linkages and Networking with Experts in the Industry which is a common Unit for all seven Modules. Each Module in the curriculum has a specific key area of entrepreneurship knowledge required by the trainee for the successful running of the business. In addition to delivering the curriculum, the incubatees will be connected to financial institutions for access to credit, and additional trainings by banks and other financiers such as WEF. The Incubation project will be carried out by WEE-HUB in collaboration with other partners, namely TechnoServe, CRAWN Trust, Women Enterprise Fund (WEF), Kenya Industrial Estate (KIE), Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI), Department of Environemntal and Biosystems Engineering (EBE) University of Nairobi, among others. We strongly believe that the Women Business Incubation curriculum will immensely contribute to the economic empowerment of the trainees and raise the economic status of their families, their community, and the country as a whole.