Africa-Press – Eswatini. The European Union (EU) and International Trade Centre (ITC) have trained business support organisations (BSOs) on corporate governance and project management to strengthen their capacities to improve their service delivery to micro-small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
This is expected to subsequently strengthen the capacity and competitiveness of BSOs and MSMEs to enable them to take advantage of the trade opportunities presented by the EU under the Southern African Development Community-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (SADC-EU EPA). The training coordinated by the ITC with support from the EU spanned over two days at Mountain View Hotel in Mbabane. The first training on governance was held on September 26 and the second one on Project Management on September 27.
Both trainings were delivered by Professor Owen Skae, who is the Project Advisor to the ITC local projects. They covered core principles of project management, which included project planning and managing project scope, time management techniques, cost management and budgeting, risk assessment and management, team management and leadership skills, project communication techniques, and good governance principles, to mention only a few.
The participants were from various institutions, including the Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (EWADE), National Agricultural Marketing Board (NAMBoard), Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP), COMESA Federation of Women in Business (COMFWB), Ufalme PTY Ltd, Hospitality and Tourism Association of Eswatini (HOTAES), Eswatini Economic Policy Analysis and Research Centre (ESEPARC), Small Enterprises Development Company (SEDCO), Women Farmer Foundation (WFF), Eswatini Coffee, Far East Textiles-Vukani BoMake Project, Eswatini Multi-Purpose Cooperative Union (ESWAMCU), Guba Permaculture Education Centre and Eswatini National Agriculture Union (ESNAU).
ITC Project Operations Manager, Mawenzi Dlamini, said the main objective of the training was to build the capacity of business support organisations and MSMEs in governance and project management. “Specifically, the training seeks to enhance the BSOs’ understanding of project management and governance principles to enable them to manage their different projects efficiently and effectively,” he said.
Training
Eswatini Multi-Purpose Cooperative Union (ESWAMCU) Business Development Officer, Sakhile Dlamini, stated that the training was very relevant for them, especially on governance and leadership, because they were facing a huge leadership and governance challenge in the co-operative’s members.
“For instance, some members are elected to the board without any skill or knowledge in leadership and they end up interfering in the operations of the organisation while they have to play an oversight role on how the manager is managing the strategic plan and other activities associated with the co-operative,” he explained. With that said, Dlamini said they were hoping to get further support to package the governance training to teach their co-operatives as well. He commended the way Professor Owen Skae delivered the training. “It was delivered very clearly and the content was very easy to understand. Even the examples he used were very clear and relevant. We felt like he was speaking to our cooperative movement,” he said, Big Game Parks Business Processes Yolanda Lauestein said the governance training gave her a new perspective on corporate governance. “I realised that we have a different understanding of corporate governance, but today it was simplified to make us understand that it is all part of leadership,” she said. Regarding the project management training, Women Farmer Foundation (WFF) Programmes Officer Ayanda Nkambule said the training would help her to manage their programmes better.
Learned
“I have learned new tools that I can use to make our programmes implementation easier and be time effective,” she said. The WFF has several programmes, including the Youth Tunnel Production, Women in Agriculture Empowerment, and Upscaling Adult Women and Female Youth Farmer’s Agri-business Development Skills.
Speaking at the official closing of the training, EU Head of Cooperation Eva-Maria Engdahl congratulated the participants for their commitment to complete the training. “Your commitment to your roles and your desire to improve is inspiring, and I am confident that you will use in the best way the knowledge and skills you have gained here,” she said.
“As the EU, we are looking forward with excitement to see the positive impact that this training will have on the implementation of your various projects,” she further stated.
The training is supported through the European Union (EU) funded International Trade Centre (ITC) Alliances for Action ‘Eswatini: Promoting growth through competitive alliances’ programme.
Its main objective is to support job creation for small farmers, entrepreneurs, and artisans. It also seeks to promote export-led growth, especially through the full utilization of the Southern African Development Community-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (SADC-EU-EPA).
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