Kɔntri Os Female Entrepreneurship Initiative
- Freetown, Sierra Leone
- 2025
- DWA FOUNDATION
ADVANCE delivered a Kɔntri Os entrepreneurship initiative for women in Freetown, combining practical business support, peer networks and routes to commercial participation.
The challenge
Participating women operated businesses with differing levels of formality, but many faced overlapping constraints around record-keeping, pricing and access to dependable commercial networks. Care responsibilities affected availability for conventional training schedules. Some support programmes treated confidence as the main barrier while overlooking procurement requirements and daily cash management. The initiative needed to strengthen business agency without assuming that every participant wanted the same growth path or financing product.
Our approach
ADVANCE organised practical sessions around participants' trading activities, using accessible cashbooks, costing exercises and customer negotiation scenarios. Scheduling and delivery formats reflected care and business commitments. Peer groups supported continued exchange, while individual reviews identified priorities such as supplier terms, documentation or market access. Introductions to relevant business services were made with clear expectations, and participant consent governed the use of enterprise stories and personal information.
The result
Participants left with business tools tied to their own operations and clearer priorities for commercial development. The initiative created a peer support structure alongside practical routes to further advice and market-facing opportunities. Women retained control over their business goals rather than being channelled into a single model of success. Programme learning also informed subsequent delivery, particularly around accessibility, follow-up support and the difference between training attendance and meaningful business participation.
Outcomes
- Practical enterprise management tools
- Participant-led commercial development
- Sustained peer and referral support