The Africa Women Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) launched a USAID-funded programme to strengthen investment and export readiness among 100 small and medium-sized enterprises across nine Southern African countries.
The Enhanced SMEs Investment and Export Readiness Through a Digital Platform programme targets businesses in Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia. It is designed to improve the competitiveness of participating companies while helping them access new regional and international markets.
The initiative places particular emphasis on agriculture, agro-processing, textiles and apparel, sectors with significant potential to generate exports, create jobs and increase value addition across Southern Africa.
A key component of the programme is expanding exports within the region while helping eligible businesses access the United States market through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The programme also supports companies seeking capital to expand production and participate in international trade.
Beyond market access, participating SMEs are expected to receive support in areas including trade-related technology transfer, labelling, branding, laboratory requirements, governance, regulatory compliance and risk management.
The programme also aims to address one of the major barriers facing African SMEs: limited capacity to meet the technical and commercial requirements of international markets. Strengthening these capabilities can help businesses move from local operations to sustainable cross-border trade.
For Southern African SMEs, initiatives that combine export preparation with access to investment can provide an important pathway towards scaling businesses, strengthening regional value chains and increasing the continent’s participation in global trade.
With agriculture and agro-processing among the priority sectors, improving SME export readiness could also support greater movement of African-produced food and agricultural products across regional markets while encouraging more local processing and value addition.