The Embassy of the Republic of Mali in Canada, Women Business Center (WBC), the Export Promotion Agency (APEX Mali), the Agency for the Promotion ofInvestment (API-Mali),Facilitation Office (TFO) Canada andTrade Promotion Bureau Canada / TradeUN Women Mali signed an agreement financed by thefor the implementation of « Women ' s capacity-building projectMalian exporters to gain access to the Canadian market.

Women play a key role in trade in Mali and are essential to the country's success in exploiting its commercial potential. Women make a major contribution to trade by participating in the production of tradable goods as cross-border traders and as managers and owners of businesses involved in trade.

They are recognized for creating jobs and adding value to exports in an innovative way. The micro, small and medium-sized enterprises they create are the main instrument for creating jobs for them.

In Mali, in 2018, out of 11,569 companies created, only 1,315 were women. In 2019, out of 13,332, 1,795 women's businesses, or about 10% of the total businesses created in these two years. UN Women, Mali's office, has built the Women's Entrepreneurship Promotion Programme, which works to strengthen the capacity of government, employers' organizations, trade unions and local community organizations to support and provide services to women entrepreneurs who start their businesses or plan their growth.

The project is part of the strategy to mitigate the economic impact of the VOCID-19 pandemic on women entrepreneurs and exporters in Mali. It will support and strengthen women's resilience to the pandemic but also to the recovery of the post-crisis economy. It aims to:

1. Improve business support services for women to increase their ability to export and succeed in the Canadian, international and regional marketplace, with the aim of promoting their economic empowerment, thereby contributing effectively to poverty reduction, improving their living conditions and addressing their income losses in the face of the pandemic.
2. Promote the economic and social development of Mali, including disadvantaged groups in the country through the development of export value chains and the improvement of competitiveness.

The specific objectives of the project are to:

1. Strengthen the capacity of women entrepreneurs and women exporters of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Mali to understand the culture and expectations of Canadian buyers, with a view to increasing the volume and quality of Malian exports to Canada;
2. Provide relevant information and advice to help prepare exporters to interact with Canadian buyers with confidence and success through the TFO platform to ensure better performance of Mali's export sector actors;
3. Training women in the full cycle, from the establishment of initial contacts with buyers to the conclusion of agreements, the maintenance of

long-term trade relations in order to increase the competitiveness of

women exporters from Mali;
4. Stimulate trade and export flows between Mali and Canada through the

Support for Mali's networks of women exporters through the provision of access tools to the Canadian market.