LIMA, Peru– The Economic Inclusion Project, which is funded by USAID and the World Council of Credit Unions, is celebrating the graduations of more than 500 new entrepreneurs from its School of Dreamers in Peru and Entrepreneur Camp in Ecuador.
In alliance with the Venezuelan Union in Peru and CONQUITO in Ecuador, more than 1,800 people have now graduated from these entrepreneurial training programs in just ten months, according to the World Council. The graduates include Venezuelan migrants and refugees, along with local residents of both countries.
The Economic Inclusion Project is one of the most ambitious entrepreneurial training projects in Peru and Ecuador, with the beneficiaries being its main objective, said WOCCU, adding that graduates say the training has been “transformative.”
“The program changed my life. It changed my chip. I learned that financial knowledge is also important because it gives sustainability to entrepreneurship,” Jairo Calupiña, a Venezuelan living in Quito, Ecuador who graduated from the Entrepreneur Camp, told WOCCU.
‘Incubating Sustainable Ventures’
According to the World Council, the programs arose from an initiative to incubate and strengthen sustainable ventures based on the adequate and strategic structuring of the value proposition, relationship with the client, and financial management to make them competitive in the market.
“Despite the pandemic, we have been able to move forward, and you are proof that progress can be continued despite many challenges. It is important to emphasize that 71% of entrepreneurs are women, as we seek to reduce gender gaps,” said Jerry Marcus, Regional Head of the Venezuela USAID Program, who gave opening remarks at both graduation ceremonies.
The programs allow entrepreneurs to compete for seed capital delivered by the EIP. To date, more than 200 entrepreneurs have accessed this benefit, WOCCU reported.
“Entrepreneurs have more opportunities with the project, since this achievement is part of what we call the Route of Economic Inclusion, which consists of training and mentoring, building sustainable business plans, and connecting them with the market, seed capital and financial education, so that everyone becomes linked to the financial system,” said Oscar Guzmán, Director of the Economic Inclusion Project.
What Participants Are Saying
WOCCU said representatives of the partner institutions have expressed the value of strategic alliances and the generation of these types of programs for their countries, including:
- "Uniting strengths and experiences of the institutions that work to promote entrepreneurship and a better quality of life for people is the only way for the country to have better days," said Javier Albuja, technical coordinator of the Economic Promotion Agency of CONQUITO.
- “The success of this project is to open paths so that Venezuelans and Peruvians who are part of it can, in one way or another, find that route that will lead them towards an integration process like the one that is taking place at the moment. Without a doubt, the Economic Inclusion Project financed by USAID and executed by WOCCU has become the project with the greatest scope and reference in supporting the Venezuelan migrant and refugee population,” said Oscar Pérez, president of the Venezuelan Union in Peru, adding the Economic Inclusion Project is delivering on its objectives.