By William Madouk
As part of the Women’s Day celebration, a section of South Sudanese women in business exhibited their products at the European Union compound to reach a larger market ahead of the Women’s Day celebration.
The event organized by International Trade Center (ITC) through their Market Access Upgrade Programme (Markup II) project, which aims to strengthen the competitiveness of Micro, Small, and Medium-sized companies (MSMEs).
International Women’s Day (IWD) is an annual holiday celebrated on March 8th.
In his remarks, Timo Olkkonen, European Union Ambassador to South Sudan, stated that this event is one of several that the EU is sponsoring in honour of Global Women’s Day.
“Of course, women’s equality, women’s rights are not only an issue in South Sudan but also globally, there’s work to do everywhere,” Timo said.
“Also in Europe, where we have significant inequalities, glass ceilings, there are opportunities that are still much more difficult to reach for women than they are for men,” he added.
He cited local realities in South Sudan, such as the lack of rule of law, security, and social norms, as barriers to women and girls attaining their full potential.
“That’s why we are supporting the transition of South Sudan into a democratic society that has good governance and rule of law. Unfortunately, the progress on that account has been slow,” Mr. Timo noted.
EU’s envoy remarked that it makes no sense to exclude half of the population from these activities.
“It’s been proven that the participation of women in the economy boosts the GDP growth of countries,” he added.
Timo stated that South Sudan is abundant with natural resources, and the only challenge is how to harness and generate livelihoods out of them.
“So, what we are seeing today is positive steps that could be used as a springboard to build upon and expand and grow and create those opportunities for women,”
Betty Poni Cosmos, an entrepreneur and member of the South Sudan Women Entrepreneurship Group (SSWEG), stated that they received training on how to make jam from fruits.
“We are trained in processing, we have a variety of goods in South Sudan, such as tomatoes, pumpkins, and mangoes. We really got training on how to process jam out of such items,” Ms. Betty said.
She stated that they were educated in packaging and are now able to do it 80 per cent flawlessly.
“We have been trained on how to open business WhatsApp, email, how to have email addresses for your business. We really learn a lot and we are doing very well,” she stated.
“There is a lot of improvement, in a week, I can sell four jerrycans of honey, each containing 20 litres,” she continued.
Betty said that she can earn $300 each week, which is similar to SSP 2 million or 1.8 million.
Meanwhile, Bul John Ajak, International Trade Center program officer overseeing the Mark II projects in South Sudan, claimed that the project will last from 2023 to 2027.
He noted that the project supports SMEs, a small-medium enterprise group, targeting women, youth, and SMEs traders working in the value chain of coffee, leather, Arabic gum, and honey.
“So, under the Mark II project, which is the Market Access Upgrade Program, we are training business entrepreneurs, mainly women, in digital skills, where they can be able to sell their thing online,” Bul said.
“We also provide them with business skill training, entrepreneurship under the projects,” he added.
He stated that the project supported by the EU involves nearly 2,300 MSMEs and an undefined number of corporations.
“We are also trying to link them to assess finances through the microfinance institutions and banks, especially to those entrepreneurs which have grown, which have the proper business plan,” he said.