We are always looking to expand our #mission as an #equalopportunity #employer we like to give #chances to everyone ! We are delighted to have sat together with @swebfoundation which is a fantastic initiative that empowers #Disabled through #entrepreneurship. We at @faytexsanitary are expanding our #csr program to include more #distributors with #disabilities into our network ! We are hoping that we can soon look back on amazing #partnership with #sweb ! Go online and read the story of how #swebfoundation started. It will inspire all of you ! #faytexcaresforyou #awareness #disability #distributorship #genderbasedincome #empowerment #women #ghana #westafrica #weallbleed #menstrualhygiene #saynotoperiodpoverty Having a disability in Ghana is harsh. Many people are shunned from society. Mothers leave their newborns near the river to be swept away … those that are surviving in these conditions deserve the best opportunities they can !
We are delighted to welcome Ghanaian #celebrity and advocate for #women in #entrepreneurship #girlseducation #maternalhealth @theanitaerskine visiting our factory in #Accra today ! #faytexsanitary #sanitary are #madeinghana 💥 #factorytour #celebrityvisit #jointhemovement #menstruation (bij Greater Accra Region)
The end #weekofmicrocredit 🎶🎶🎶Lets get rich 🎶🎶🎶 #entrepreneurship out of #poverty #microstart (at Microstart Antwerpen)
HRH the Queen of #Belgium has arrived at the #microstart #Microfinance agency of #liege to pledge her support to #poverty alleviation via #entrepreneurship & #microcredit #belgiumroyalty
Today our office at the honour to launch the 5th edition of the annual Week of microcredit. During this week we promote the power of entrepreneurship in Belgium. We try to show Europe that Microfinance is a tool out of poverty and battles social exclusion. More events to come and will be posted.
European Commissioner, Marianne Thyssen pledge her support to fight poverty through Microfinance and entrepreneurship. She had the opportunity to meet Entrepreneur Author of Nigerian descent Chris Dahi, Joan’s manicure and pedicure, Slavica’s cupcakes, Ciprian Petcu of Adhoc catering and King Franky of Shakuma Fitness. Also present were CEO of VDAB Fons Leroy, Minister of State Ph.Maystad, CEO of Microfinance agency Hefboom and Maria Nowak of ADIE International!
In a few hours we are launching our 5th edition of our annual #weekofmicrocredit ! We want to show everyone that #Microfinance can #kickstart your new #business ! The opening ceremony is commissioned by @europeancommission EU Commissioner Marianne Thyssen, #ceo of @vdab_be Fons Leroy & Minister of State Philippe Maystadt ! 🇧🇪 #entrepreneurship is the way! #globalmoneyweek2016 (at Microstart Antwerpen)
First Customer of the week for 2016! - Ayisha Bengal
Mrs. Bengal is our first customer of the week for January, but what is more special is that she is not a Microfinance customer but one of the customers in our business coaching program. During the break of business coaching Ayisha started to design bags. These bags she had produced in China and presented us the results. On top of being in our business program, Ayisha is still in high school following an administrative program.
Way to go Ayisha Bengal ! We would love to see more!
Ending the APEFE * AFEM coaching mission in Morocco
I have arrived at the end of my mission and I traveled from Tangier to Casablanca to El Jadida back to Casablanca to Rabat back to Casabalanca and now I will go and relax 3 days in Marrakech. Due to the distances it was quite a challenging project but I enjoyed it so much.
I learned a lot about Moroccan culture and most of all the struggle of Moroccan women in their society that is slowly leaning to be more women friendly. As a wrote before project such as AFEM supported by the King of Morocco are ideal. Many foreign development agencies are keeping themselves busy with coming to aid to the development of Moroccan business leaders.
My task was to provide 2 coaching sessions in each city. In Antwerp I prepared a Business Model Canvas presentation in order to easily develop a business plan. This is a good tool for revising maybe your strategy in the existing company and for the starters to develop their business plans. Also Moroccan female aspiring business leaders can request to be in the program Min Ajliki. This is an incubator in which the women whom passed the selection committee receive 18 months of free coaching and office space.
The second coaching session I prepared was marketing and social media marketing. My favourite ! The female business leaders seem to be also most interested in marketing and social media.
All the women were very highly educated which is opposite of our customers at microStart. No one was less than master qualified. The majority of them were industrial engineers. A few had given up and started their business to avoid the corporate struggle with men. Working twice as hard to be respected on for half of the work.
Find below some of the activities planning to be launched or already started: (The names are probably misspelled.)
Karima: Personal Development Coach
Hama: Artisinal custom made carpets
Hadjida: 3 star hotel in El Jadida
Fatima: event marketing company
Saida: language centre
Ream: safe toy company for kids
Wafa: daycare
Jalal: Communication PR
Haicha: interior design
Gena: pret a porter
Karima: Ecological products
Fatima: corporate consulting
Zena: coaching computers
Naima: painter
Jihenna: pret a porter
Marianne: pret a parter
Khadija: steel company
The other names I really couldn’t understand but there is still a glass company, HR consulting bureau and an online archiving company. Definitely worth the projects !
Giving these trainings in French, being flexible at all times, staying relax and entertaining women from another culture is another skill I can add to my CV. Working with Chahine Majoub from APEFE was a dream! Nothing was left to coincidence only well organised meetings.
This is the title written by Exchangevzw in their newsletter. The article in Dutch describes my work here in Morocco and in Belgium mentioning the fact that I am (as you know) a social media fanatic. They have officially labeled my social media tactics a storm and I love it. I also give trainings in social media marketing so I should be able to create storms all the time :) I want everyone to know about the work of Exchangevzw, the work of the Moroccan female Association and the work of APEFE Belgium in supporting women projects. Good things can’t remain unnoticed. Thanks at Exchangevzw for the nice article and I will continue my dedication in helping small business in developing countries grow !
Coaching sessions continue from Tangier to Casablanca. EL JADIDA
Yesterday, we held the second day of trainings in Tangier. This time I was giving a coaching session on marketing and social media. I prepared an interactive session in which the participants had to create a logo, slogan for their company, find key words for SEO and learn how to use and choose hashtag words. There was also an introduction to the latest applications such as snapchat. It was very obvious during the training sessions that there was a generational gap amongst the future entrepreneurs. The young Moroccan ladies in their twenties ready to develop their startups and the older generation in their forties who run existing enterprises. The clash was very obvious amongst the believers of the power of social media as a marketing tool and the non believers. Yet I managed to convince the trainers/coaches of ANAPEC to utilise social media to reach out to their audience.
After another lovely French lunch in Hotel Farah Tangier we headed out to Casablanca. It was a 4,5 hour drive. We had quite some traffic on the way. Chahine Majoub (Senior Manager of APEFEASBL Morocco) and I had a longgg conversation on the road. It is fantastic to experience a culture, a country this way. These missions are a learning experience for me as well. The female Moroccan entrepreneurs, the members of AFEM and passionate, professionals such as Chahine Majoub inspire me to even do better.
Morocco is really growing on me. I am starting to feel as if Morocco is a better version of France. Not only the climate is better but the openness of the Moroccan people is very charming. The willingness of the young generation to develop to become something is fantastic to experience.
Today, this Friday we left early in the morning for another 120 Km to El JADIDA. A town outside of Casablanca in the province of El Jadida. Due to circumstances, the coaching began much later in the day and so I adapted the entire schedule. We had a full day of business model planning and marketing. We managed to crush 2 days of training into 1. The candidates were extra ordinary. One woman is developing custom made carpets through local cooperatives. Another woman is developing a secure toy start up company and developing a master franchise for children education. One is opening a psychology consult in office. Another young woman owned a language institute. Amongst the existing entrepreneurs was a hotel owner, a metal company owner and a consulting firm QSE. All of the women had 1 or more masters or MBA. Big Bravo to all of them! I will be posting later links to their companies for all of you to like & hopefully support! Inshallah
Finally we have made it back from EL JADIDA! Chahine Majoub gets to spend time with his children as we have been traveling together for a week. It’s a three day weekend so you won’t hear me complaining. :)
4,5 hours on the road ! 🚗 #tangier To #casablanca #northafrica to continue our mission to #coach #morrocan #female #enterpreneurs in #entrepreneurship #socialmedia #marketing 🇲🇦 supported by #apefe #anapec @exchangevzw
At 9 AM the coaching session was planned to start. Chahine Majoub from APEFE, already told me yesterday that the participants will arrive late. So most people arrived by 09:45 to 10:30. I was quite nervous for this day as I had been preparing the training materials for days last week in Antwerp. I wanted to present a training session that covered how to develop your business plan in a very basic way including all aspects of entrepreneurship. The easiest universal tool is business model canvas by Osterwalder. I pulled information from everywhere including what we already produced at microStart and developed a full training including what to do if your business is declining.
I was nervous as it is difficult to entertain people for eight hours long. On top of that the trainings are in French. I speak the language fluently but I do have a Flemish/English accent which I am conscious about. Inshallah (adapting to the situation) my coaching went well and the participants thought I had a Canadian accent.
The participants were very interesting and young. Many of them in their early twenties and all master students. 1 wanted to start a window company, 1 a contemporary pret a porter line, 1 a marketing company for events, 1 a public construction company, 1 a digital archiving company… They all had very diverse ideas and definitely potential. At the end of the seminar they all had to pitch their businessplan to each other. I am very honoured that I have the opportunity to coach them! & Inshallah again hopefully they liked it. Actually I hope my coaching was on point as my outfit today.
They are definitely well organised and my #coaching efforts are being rewarded deliciously! #morocco #tangier #northafrica @exchangevzw #apefe #afem #anapec #entrepreneurship #startup (at Hotel Tanger Farah 5 Etoiles)
Ready to start giving my #coaching sessions on #entrepreneurship for #apefe @exchangevzw The Association for Moroccan female #entrepreneurs #startup #morocco #northafrica #businessmodelcanvas (at Hotel Tanger Farah 5 Etoiles)
Catching a flight at 7AM from Charleroi South is always a disaster. That meant getting up at 3:30 AM for me which equals not sleeping for me. Anyhow everything went smooth and I arrived safely in Tangier. As of a matter of fact when you land in Tangier, you immediately get that Welcoming feeling of landing in Africa.
Tangier is the most northern point of Africa and closes to Europe. It’s one hour away by glider from Spain. Tangier was always colonized by the Spanish and the majority of the population speaks Spanish. The South of Morocco was also colonized by the Spanish and the the middle by the French. That makes that Moroccans are quite fluent in French, Spanish and Arabic. Here in Tangier that makes chit chatting very easy. In Antwerp, I often hear Arabic so when mixed with French and Spanish; there is no issue not understanding.
Chahine from APEFE immediately recognized me at the airport. He is such a warm and welcoming person. We drove through Tangier, I immediately took some snaps of the city and went to the hotel. The hotel is fantastic. I mean how many people can say there mission organized a full pension - 4/5 star hotel for them. The hotel has 6 restaurants and my room is huge. Tangier wants to become a well developed holiday resort and they are well on their way. I quickly went to look at the conference room where I will be hosting sessions on entrepreneurship for females only and everything is state of the art / well prepared.
The only thing so far that’s a pity is the cold weather that I brought from Belgium!
Follow my mission in #morocco #maroc LIVE via #snapchat 👻: microfinsnap ! Or on my #tumblr #blog: microfinancemasala ! Supporting #female #entrepreneurship #startup in #tangier #tetouan #casablanca #marrakech supported by #afem #apefe & @exchangevzw
2015, was an exciting year for me. I worked hard together with my team to make microStart Antwerp a success story. We have shown again that those considered unbankable and not creditworthy are bankable. We also proved that they are able to set up long term businesses.
microStart, microfinance and coaching; helping people battle poverty through entrepreneurship is my career but it is also my passion. My career is going in the exact direction as planned. Next to the professional experiences at microStart in 2015, I came in contact with the organisation Exchangevzw through BNP Paribas Fortis Benevolab whom send me on a mission to consult a tea union and microfinance agency in Rwanda. Looking back on 2015, I realised again that I personally grew a lot and gained a lot of new professional experiences in Belgium and internationally. After my Exchagnevzw, BNP Paribas Fortis Benevolab mission in Rwanda, I decided to be a Country Coordinator Uganda for Exchangevzw as I would like to continue supporting an organisation that helps develop SME’s in developing countries.
I love professional missions that allow you to gain, exchange new experiences and at the same time you get to visit other countries. In 2015, I travelled for fun to Dubai - UAE, Mumbai - India, Provence - France and Antalya - Turkey. I feel that when I stay too long inside one country I become stupid. It is when I travel my creativity gets tickled! So when in doubt - Travel.
The first mont of 2016, I wil be in Morocco working on a project called AFEM (Association des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprise du Maroc), business association of female moroccan entrepreneurs. AFEM specialises in female entrepreneurship and leadership. AFEM provides trainings on entrepreneurship and serves as a business incubator in Casablanca, Tanger and Tétouan. Through entrepreneurship these Moroccan women can battle poverty. The program is supported by APEFE (Association pour la promotion de l’Education et de la formation à l’étranger), a Belgian Walloon educational center for the promotion of female entrepreneurship. APEFE also supports MIN AJLIKI, which organised Casablanca startup, AL MANA microfinance, DFP (Département de la Formation Professionelle) the professional coaching department of the Kingdom of Morocco and the ANAPEC (Agence Nationale de Promotion de l’Emploie et des Compétences), the National Labour and Competencies Agency. All of the above again supported by the Belgian Development Cooperation.
I will be giving trainings & coaching to large groups of women interested in setting up new businesses. The trainings will vary from 1) how to develop a business plan, 2) how to develop a financial plan, 3) sales: how to find customers (commercial skills/ marketing) 4) administrative capabilities 5) digital skills and a workshop on finance. I will be travelling to Casablanca, Tangier and Tétouan. 2016 - it is! Lets do this ! My professional coaching experience at microStart will be of great use.
Recap #2015 900 #microcredits 1200 people #coached - #happy2016 year of #microfinance & #entrepreneurship
