Ethiopia - Women Entrepreneurship Development Project

Overview & Synopsis

Ratings of Women Entrepreneurship Development Project for Ethiopia were as follows: outcome was satisfactory, Bank performance was satisfactory, and monitoring and evaluation quality was substantial. Some of the lessons learned include: Lending to women microentrepreneurs is a viable business proposition in a high growth environment; Microenterprises are likely to favor retail and other basic services over manufacturing, which can reduce their potential contribution to economic growth and structural transformation; The impact of traditional business training on enterprise outcomes can be mixed and public TVET institutes may be slow to adopt new approaches; It is important to ensure the adequacy of staffing to manage projects like WEDP to minimize the burden on civil servants who may be demotivated by the additional workload of the project; Introducing innovations and generating knowledge through rigorous evaluation strengthens project impact; and Robust monitoring and evaluation is critical.