ILO Growth Oriented Women Entrepreneurs (GOWE Kenya)

(i) Overall, this project is being funded by the African Development Bank through its annual contribution to IFCs PEP Africa Programme. With the agreement and approval of both AfDB and IFC/PEP Africa, the ILO as the third partner in project implementation will provide general guidance, support and technical backstopping, as well as having responsibility for implementing several technical components of the GOWE Kenya project.
(ii) The overall GOWE-Kenya project strategy involves three major components, including: (a) provision of lines of guarantee to selected financial institutions to facilitate loans to GOWEs; (b) increased access by GOWE target groups to business development services in various forms, to be delivered in a gender-sensitive manner; (c) capacity building in various BDS and related approaches, association building, and gender mainstreaming for project beneficiary institutions and agents (associations of WEs, BDS providers, financial institutions, MIs, etc.).
(iii) The project will develop direct and indirect synergies with the ongoing and planned programmes and activities of the three key executing partner organizations: (a) linkages with ILOs WEDGE programme activities in Kenya, other African countries and globally; (b) linkages with IFCs PEP Africa programme and its SME Solutions Centre (SSC) in Kenya; (c) related ADB initiatives.
(iv) In relation to promoting gender equality, the project is based primarily on affirmative actions to support GOWEs in Kenya who are experiencing disadvantages in the business arena, as well as mainstreaming gender equality issues into every component and delivery mechanism of the project.