USAID Business Growth Activity joins hands with women's group to support female entrepreneurs

AMMAN — The USAID Business Growth Activity on Tuesday launched its partnership with Jordan’s Business and Professional Women Association-Amman (BPWA) aimed at encouraging women entrepreneurs to leverage resources, technical expertise and capital to build their businesses and contribute to the country’s economic growth. 

The USAID Business Growth Activity, a five-year project (2021-2026), offers a range of capacity building programmes, capital, incubation services, and mentorship support, both for startups and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), tailored to women businesses, according to a USAID statement. 

The goal is to create a competitive, demand-driven, entrepreneurial ecosystem — one which leads to increased private-sector employment, especially for women, youth and persons with disabilities.

Despite their comparatively high education levels, Jordan has some of the lowest indicators in the world for women’s labour force, economic productivity and gender equality, the statement said. 

Fewer than one-fifth of women, who comprise 50 per cent of the 11 million population, are engaged in the workforce. Increasing women’s participation in entrepreneurship has the potential to create hundreds of new businesses, as well as grow job opportunities and income levels, read the statement.

Wafaa Aranki, USAID Business Growth Activity Chief of Party, said: “When businesswomen know what is made available to them, how best to obtain such services, their plans to succeed become concrete and rewarding. We invite you as Jordanian businesswomen to reach out to our project and to engage with us to establish your own path to success".

In the first round of USAID Business Growth Activity applications, only 4 per cent of women entrepreneurs applied, a low rate that signalled greater promotion of USAID programme, the application process, and the benefits for early-stage ventures and women-led and owned SMEs. 

The partnership with the activity is expected to expand the outreach to more governorates and sectors and increase qualified women applicants to the project. 

The event marked the beginning of the pre-qualification process aimed at encouraging women entrepreneurs to access resources and technical support to scale up their businesses, and affect positive change in their communities, the statement said.

Thanaa Al Khasawneh, BPWA executive director, said: “We welcome this hands-on activity that will enhance our members’ access to available donor resources, especially to projects like this that focus on creating jobs for women, youth, and persons with disabilities. Our members will benefit from an array of services, finance, innovative tools and ideas that can help them to contribute to Jordan’s growth and prosperity."