The Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund, launched by the WTO and the ITC in February 2024, aims to empower women entrepreneurs by helping them grow their businesses through international trade and digitalization.
The USD 50 million WEIDE Fund will unlock opportunities in international trade and digital trade for women entrepreneurs by improving their access to:
- grants and support from financial institutions to reduce the finance gap
- technical assistance and training related to digital skills and improving export competitiveness
- export markets, with the aim of connecting more women to digital market platforms
- networks and support services, with the objective of creating more inclusive and effective business ecosystems including leveraging partnerships with the private and public sectors.
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With the support of the WEIDE Fund, women-led small businesses will be able to:
- Improve their business operations to increase their competitiveness
- Transact business and trade more effectively internationally
- Use new or more online channels to sell their products/services
- Create and upgrade employment opportunities
- Benefit from additional assistance provided by a corporate partner as a result of support from the Fund.
The WTO and ITC aim to raise US$ 50 million for the Fund, with an initial target of US$ 25 million, from public and private sector partners. The Fund will actively seek partnerships with various stakeholders, including governments, international organizations, development banks, philanthropic foundations and the private sector to implement initiatives aimed at maximizing the impact of the Fund's activities. Collaboration and knowledge-sharing will be crucial to achieving sustainable and scalable solutions.
The Fund's activities will be implemented through projects in specific countries in cooperation with Business Support Organizations selected through a competitive call for proposals. At the country level, the Fund will implement a two-track system tailored to meet the needs of the targeted MSMEs. Both tracks will include a grant and complementary technical assistance.
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The targeted beneficiaries are:
- women-led MSMEs in the formal sector which are already exporting or which are ready to start exporting
- women-led, micro and small enterprises in the formal sector with export potential.
- 11 Sep 2024 — Call for proposals from Business Support Organizations (BSOs)
- 15 Nov 2024 — Reopening of call for applications from BSOs in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions only
- 3 March 2025 — Selection of BSOs
- 22 April to 18 May 2025 — Call for applications from women-led MSMEs launch in the Dominican Republic, Mongolia and Nigeria
- June 2025 — Selection of winners
For more information or to make a donation, please contact:
- Email: [email protected]
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