IMPAR

Start date: 1 January, 2024

End date: 31 December, 2036

Code: Project 101127149 - IMPAR

Project Coordinator: 

INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DE COIMBRA, PORTUGAL

Beneficiaries

• UNIVERSITY OF ALMERIA, SPAIN (UAL).
• UNIVERSIDADE EDUARDO MONDLANE, MOZAMBIQUE.
• UNIVERSIDADE PEDAGOGICA, MOZAMBIQUE.
• UNIVERSIDADE DO CABO VERDE, CABO VERDE.
• UNIVERSIDADE DO MINDELO, CABO VERDE.
• UNIVERSIDADE TECNICA DE ANGOLA, ANGOLA.
• ASOCIACION VALENCIA INNO HUB (INNOHUB).
• UNIVERSIDADE IDEPEDENTE DE ANGOLA, ANGOLA.
• INCOMA, SPAIN.

• CAMARA MUNICIPAL DA PRAIA, CABO VERDE.

UAL Contact: 

• Fernando del Moral Torres (fmoral@ual.es)

Funding: ERASMUS+

Status: In progress.

ABSTRACT:

Women in Sub-Saharan Africa often choose self-employment as a way to overcome the lack of job opportunities. However, they tend to have insufficient management and socio-emotional skills and are less willing to compete, which limits the contribution of their businesses to growth and development. Unemployment is an important social challenge, particularly among women and young people. Although social enterprises are important agents for inclusive job creation and decent work, the social economy ecosystem is underdeveloped. IMPAR will harness the contribution of Universities to boost the social economy ecosystem in Mozambique, Cape Verde and Angola by empowering and supporting young women to set-up, run and scale social enterprises that pursue environmental sustainability and socially inclusive development purposes (referred to as green or eco-inclusive social entrepreneurship). The action will pursue two main results. The first is the design and implementation of two training courses to empower Sub-Saharan African young women on key transversal, management skills and networking skills and opportunities to successfully set-up, run and scale social businesses that pursue socially inclusive development purposes. The second is the definition of a virtual incubation and acceleration programme that will be rolled-out by Sub-Saharan African Universities in order to enhance the framework conditions for young women’s social entrepreneurship. IMPAR will work towards reducing the barriers to women entrepreneurship, expanding the social innovation ecosystem and enhancing the contribution of the social economy for the inclusive and sustainable development of Mozambique, Cape Verde and Angola. On the other hand, it will also establish Universities as catalysts for eco-inclusive entrepreneurship and will empower a new generation of women entrepreneurs working towards promoting economic growth and employment while also pursuing social benefits and protecting the environment.

Website: Impar