Inclusive economic development in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is receiving support through the $300 million Empowering Women Entrepreneurs and Upgrading MSMEs for Economic Transformation and Jobs in DRC Project, known as the TRANSFORME Project. The initiative aims to promote economic inclusion for all women, including those living with disabilities.
Recently, the project conducted training sessions for female micro-entrepreneurs in five cities, reaching 23,531 women. Efforts were made to ensure that entrepreneurs with reduced mobility could participate. In response to requests from community organizations such as local churches, the project also included women with hearing disabilities by first training sign-language translators so they could take part alongside project coaches.
As a result, 75 women with hearing disabilities completed their training in two provinces. Albert Zeufack, Division Director for Angola, Burundi, DRC and Sao Tome and Principe at the World Bank, visited these sessions. He emphasized the importance of focusing on women with disabilities across all provinces involved in the project and increasing their representation.
Support for these entrepreneurs will continue as they are set to receive grants aimed at helping them launch or strengthen their businesses. This step is expected to enable them to hire others and expand economic opportunities within their communities.
A woman who benefited from the training said through sign language: “The World Bank through the TRANSFORME Project has given us the opportunity to participate at this training, and I ask you to continue to consider this type of project so that more people can benefit. Many women with hearing loss were unable to participate in this training, but they would like to take part in the future.”
The TRANSFORME Project provides comprehensive support by offering training sessions and grants not only to micro-entrepreneurs but also new enterprises and established small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The goal is to help private businesses increase revenues, improve climate resilience, create jobs, facilitate access to finance through credit initiatives and new financial services, and strengthen the business ecosystem via SME Hubs and capacity building measures.
This approach builds on lessons learned from a previous initiative called PADMPME which ended in June 2024 after establishing over 6,000 new firms and creating nearly 15,000 full-time jobs—outcomes that exceeded targets. The current project seeks to scale up these results while placing greater emphasis on access to finance and addressing climate risks.
By Zouhour Karray, Senior Private Sector Specialist at the World Bank; Jan Van Zoelen Cortes, Consultant at the World Bank.