IFC hosts Business Edge training workshop

YEMEN - The International Finance Corporation (IFC) hosted a workshop last week to certify 10 people as Business Edge trainers. These new trainers will then be able to expand business-training opportunities throughout the country.

Business Edge is a management-training program that helps strengthen the business skills of individuals and firms in order to improve their business performance and increase their competitiveness in the marketplace.

Since IFC launched Business Edge in Yemen in 2004, the program has trained 24,000 unique individuals, 15 percent of whom were women, with an average repeat rate of three courses per person. It is looking to train 15,000 more people over the next three years, and is also currently working to expand the training to more rural areas of Yemen.

IFC's Country Manager for Yemen, Raymond Conway, commented on the program, saying, “IFC's Business Edge offers Yemenis access to business training that is vital to creating an active private sector, especially for smaller businesses. By giving smaller businesses the tools to grow, Yemen will see increased growth and more job opportunities.”

Taiseer Aqlan, one of the trainers, said that she joined the IFC mainly to obtain a certificate, but she said that she was surprised with the course's content, the efficiency of the trainers, and the benefits she gained from the course.

She added that she now has a vision from the Business Edge program that should act as a road map to guide her towards professionalism and distinction, as well as add to her existing skills and strategies.

Aqlan also explained that the program is appropriate for the Yemeni environment because it teaches skills that suit the Yemeni labor market, and because it is tailored towards businesswomen and others who want to establish new businesses. She pointed out that Yemeni staff are more skilled than their foreign counterparts in many fields and she said that these staff should be given the chance to prove their abilities.

Wael A. Makki, of the MBA SME development program, also commented on the workshop.  He said that the workshop sends a message to private companies in Yemen about the importance of contributing to the reinstitution of trainers and the need to properly prepare Yemeni youth for their future careers.

Makki added that the IFC has trained 24,000 Yemenis in the Business Edge program, which means that Yemenis make up 53 percent of the program's trainees in the Middle East region.  The number of skilled trainers who have participated in their training has reached 103 people in Yemen, Makki explained, saying, “the Yemeni labor market needs this kind of training so as to meet the youths' requirements and the labor market's demands.”

Meanwhile, Britain's Department for International Development (DFID) has contributed to a three-year program which will finance multiple projects in Yemen.  The program will be implemented by the IFC and the Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS), in collaboration with the Yemeni government and the private sector. The funding will be used to assist the IFC Advisory Services' efforts to address the obstacles facing the private sector in Yemen, which is one of the region's most challenging markets.

The IFC has signed agreements with six training providers in Yemen, so the Business Edge program will be delivered by selected local training partners and certified trainers.  The Business Edge program sets a new standard in business training for developing countries.  It was introduced in the Middle East and North Africa region in 2004 and is available in Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan, and Yemen.  The program is also being used in other IFC regions in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

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