BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – The United States of America (USA) Embassy launched its inaugural Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) program in Eswatini.
It was launched at the Manzini American corner yesterday. There were 20 exceptional Eswatini young women selected to participate in the incredible program.
Meanwhile, Claudia Castellanos, the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Black Mamba Foods, assumed the role of facilitator and mentor to the women.
Deputy Chief of Mission Caitlin Piper said, the program took off really well and it was all about promoting economic growth in women.
“This program does not just focus on young people, but it goes further and recognises the unique economic potential of young women specifically and the role they can play in economic recovery and growth,” she said.
In addition, she said they were all about promoting women’s economic opportunities and ensuring women have the capabilities and resources needed to participate in the economy as one of their key objectives.
“This program enables us to take another step toward breaking down barriers to women’s equality,” said the Deputy Chief.
In addition, Piper encouraged the participants to make the most of the knowledge and the networks that they will gain through the program to launch and grow their businesses beyond the borders of Eswatini.
The Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) is a U.S. government exchange program that was established in 2019 to empower women with the knowledge, networks, and access they need to launch or scale successful businesses. It has been implemented in nearly 100 countries since 2019, and Eswatini is joining for the first time this year and will be running the program in collaboration with Lesotho and South Africa.
