United Nations’ ESCWA Launches E-Commerce Programme for Arab SMEs

With funding between 2020 and 2021 growing by 235%, MENAP’s e-commerce sector continues its ascendancy as one of the region’s most prolific sectors. Indeed, with an impressive 87 deals completed last year, the sector is expected to continue its meteoric rise over the next decade, especially as sub-sectors such as q-commerce come to the forefront.

It’s a movement that has caught the eye of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), which has announced the launch of eCAP (E-Commerce Acceleration Program). With support from the ICC-ESCWA Centre of Entrepreneurship (CoE) and the International Trade Centre, the programme will look to empower Arab SMEs in the often rocky road to online selling.

According to ESCWA, eCap will aim to build the capacity of 100 SMEs, specifically focusing on developing participants’ transactional ecommerce platforms or through existing marketplaces. In addition to gaining business and technical expertise, the programme will also offer one-year support and setup fees, one-on-one coaching and exposure and access to networking opportunities.

You can find out more and apply at coe.unescwa.org.