Completed pilot

Women Entrepreneurs Burao

Women run many of the small shops and stalls in Burao, but few get the training, childcare and support they need to grow. RVO pilot, January to June 2026.

A trainer teaching a class of women in Burao

YEEL implemented this project together with:

Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO)

The goal

Women entrepreneurs in Burao who manage their money well, grow their business and support each other.

A Women's Business Development Hub

A mother taking notes in class with her daughter on her lap

Space, childcare and training in one place

We opened a hub in Burao where 25 women who already ran small businesses could learn, work and meet. Their children were looked after next door while they trained.

The women trained three times a week for three months, with their own businesses as the examples.

25women
3months of training

How we supported the women

  • Women working in pairs during a class in Burao

    Practical training

    Pricing, stock, records, saving and growth, taught with the women's own businesses as examples.

  • Children playing in the childcare room while their mothers train

    Childcare

    Children are looked after next door, so their mothers can learn.

  • Two women discussing in class

    Peer and savings groups

    The women support each other and save together.

A woman in her shop at the Burao marketA woman arranging bags in her shopA woman weighing produce at her stallA vegetable seller at her stallA woman asking a question in classA participant writing in her notebookTwo children playing in the childcare room

Funded by
Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO)
Where
Burao, Somaliland
Who
25 women who already run small businesses
Status
RVO pilot, January to June 2026. Completed.