Over a quarter of a million dollars in grants from the Republic of China (Taiwan) will be disbursed to thirty-eight (38) female entrepreneurs on Thursday, 15 September, 2022.
The grant awardees completed the second cohort of the Women’s Empowerment Project – SVG, funded by the ROC through its Technical Mission and implemented by the Centre for Enterprise Development Inc (CED). It is part of an initiative entitled ‘Assisting the Economic Empowerment of Women in Latin America and the Caribbean in the Post-Pandemic of COVID-19’. The objective is to boost the country’s economy following the impact of the pandemic and maintaining social stability by strengthening women’s economic empowerment through employment and entrepreneurship.
Over $180,000 in grant funds to twenty-three (23) female entrepreneurs and $78,000 in prize monies to the three (3) winners of the Business Plan Competition were disbursed in the first cohort, which ran from August to December last year.
The Grant Awards Ceremony will be held at the Kingstown Baptist Church at 10:00 a.m. and will be addressed by Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Information Technology, the Honourable Camillo Gonsalves, Ambassador Peter Sha Li Lan of the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and CED General Manager, Mr. Felix Lewis.
The second cohort of the WEP ran from March to July. The final activity for this cohort will be the Business Plan Competition, which will see ten (10) finalists pitching to a panel of judges on Friday, 23 September, 2022.
Three of the finalists will win $26,000 each. The finalists are:
- Samantha Robinson – Samantha Paperwork Designs
- Yvonne Caine-Cummins – Old Fashioned Products
- Ranique John – My Crown of Curls
- Cherry-Ann Dennie – Miss Ann Agro Products
- Krystal Wilson – Wilson Farms
- Claudine Simmons – Emmanie’s
- Marion Isaacs – We Are Mayreau Inc.
- Avanell DaSilva – Ambrosia Foods
- Shamique Gopalakrishnan – Vel Vincy Virgin Coconut Oil
- Shannique DaSouza – CB Construction
The third and final cohort runs from September to December with another batch of female entrepreneurs.