The Financial Inclusion and Entrepreneurship Scaling (FInES) Project has disclosed that over three thousand Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) will take part in the baseline section of the high-impact capacity-building training for entrepreneurs.
This follows a review of about four thousand applications, which FInES Project Business Development Specialist Richard Zidana describes as worth applauding.
According to Zidana, the selected will take part in the tailor-made training which will strengthen their capacity through personal initiative training, coaching, business development service provision and access to markets.
“MSMEs are crucial to the economic development of any country. Not only do they contribute towards job creation, they stimulate economic growth and innovation. The training will empower MSMEs with the personal initiative skills needed to grow their businesses and build their self-awareness and confidence. We are very excited that Malawian MSMEs have responded positively. This reflects great determination to upscale their business capabilities”, said Zidana.
According to FInES, just about a thousand failed to meet the criteria leaving out a total of 3,513 successful MSMEs.
Zidana has meanwhile said the results of the preliminary screening will soon be communicated directly to all applicants via individual SMS messages.
The initial MSME application window under the FInES Project opened in April and closed on 4th July 2023. Following demands from MSMEs who were unable to submit their applications by the deadline, the FInES Project is currently considering to reopen the application window for a further three-week period.
FInES is a Government of Malawi project implemented by the Reserve Bank of Malawi with a loan from the World Bank.
The project seeks to increase access to financial services, promote entrepreneurship and capabilities of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Malawi including addressing the continued impact of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) implications.