35 graduates of the first cohort of the Business Without Borders, a Digital Mentoring Women Entrepreneurs Programme for the Indian Ocean, received their certificate of completion, during a ceremony held today, at the Caudan Arts Centre, in Port-Louis.
The Minister of Gender Equality and Family Welfare, Mrs Kalpana Devi Koonjoo-Shah, and the High Commissioner of Australia to Mauritius, Dr Kate O’Shaughnessy, were present on the occasion.
Women entrepreneurs from the Comoros, Madagascar, Rodrigues, and Mauritius participated in the mentoring programme implemented by the Association Mauricienne des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises (AMFCE). The programme was launched in September 2020.
In her address, Minister Koonjoo-Shah congratulated the AMFCE for the coaching and mentoring provided to women entrepreneurs, and thanked the Australian Embassy for their support in this endeavour. She stressed that training was a continuous process for the acquisition, not only of fundamental knowledge, but also of the critical know-how that all women entrepreneurs would absolutely need.
‘The mentoring programme’, she said, ‘addresses a significant gap in our current support system for our business start-ups, and those at stage of growth and development.’
According to her, if everyone collectively supported women entrepreneurship growth, this would significantly contribute to more resilience and sustainability of the socio-economic growth of the country. Speaking about the negative effects of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic on women entrepreneurs, Mrs Kalpana Devi Koonjoo-Shah underlined the Governmental measures to financially support local Mauritian women entrepreneurs. “In the 2020-2021 Budget, an envelope of Rs 200 million for loans of up to Rs 500 000 at 0.5 percent interest rate was approved,” she recalled.
Mrs Koonjoo-Shah also stressed that women should be encouraged and supported to break the ceiling and the obstacle of self-limitation. Moreover, the Minister talked of the key project of her Ministry in the pipeline, that is the “Assises de L’Entrepreneuriat Féminin”, which she emphasized, would be an ideal platform to give opportunities to all stakeholders to contribute to a Blueprint which would pave the way for a new and successful entrepreneurial journey for women. She announced as well the introduction of a National Women Entrepreneur Innovation Award to boost up innovation of women entrepreneurs.
As for the President of the AMFCE, Ms Rima Ramsaran, she underlined that the mentoring programme was part of a collaborative project between business leaders in Australia and Mauritius, and was supported by the Australian Government and the Mauritius Commercial Bank. ‘Its objective’, she said, ‘is to enable women entrepreneurs to grow their business and provide them the opportunity to get into mainstream development and overcome barriers when entering the formal sectors.’
She further remarked that the mentoring programme provided the graduates with a global outreach and that they could now share what they had acquired by joining the second edition of the Business Without Borders as mentors. Ms. Rima Ramsaran urged them to build together a support system and to create a network of strong mentors which could further the mission of empowering women entrepreneurs. She called on them to reach out to women in need and endeavour to make a real difference in women’s life.
