Entrepreneurship

Swisscontact's value proposition and competences are focused on economic development. Within our Enterprise Promotion projects, the entrepreneurial acumen of business people has been strengthened, and consequently increased their income. 
We aim at promoting and empowering new and existing micro, small and medium-sized farms and enterprises to increase their productivity, production, sales and turnover. This results in higher competitiveness, increased additional net income for our target groups, and job creation. Besides strengthening the supply and production side, farmers and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as growth and trade-oriented entrepreneurs benefited from entrepreneurship support and services to improve linkages to national and international sales markets provided by private and public project partners. Within the Development Programme, different tools have been tested and replicated. We also facilitate research and exchange in the Global South, regarding entrepreneurship and to improve the ecosystem for entrepreneurs in selected countries. Furthermore, the Senior Expert Contact offers tailormade consultancies of retired experts to SMEs. As deployments were not possible as of March 2020, a new offer with remote consultancies was created. Although virtual assignments cannot replace all on-site consultancies, they were so successful that we will continue to offer them in the future.

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  • 98 378 beneficiaries accessed improved services. 
  • 55 471 people increased their income. 
  • 32 943 farmers increased their productivity. 

"The Shujola Project was instrumental in helping Drinkwell unlock a more market-driven scale-up strategy. by experimenting with an operating model that involves local entrepreneurs who can provide last mile delivery of safe water. The doorstep delivery feature enabled by local entrepreneur partners was a key gap in our existing offering through our work with the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, and was demanded by our customers in light of Covid-19. We are grateful for the partnership and support Swisscontact provided."

Minhaj Chowdhury, Co-founder & CEO, Drinkwell