INCAE and FICOHSA join forces to strengthen SMEs led by women in Honduras

25 of May. INCAE, through its Progresando Entrepreneurs Program (EMPRO) Honduras, has signed a cooperation agreement with Banco FICOHSA with the objective of strengthening the financial knowledge and preparations of the beneficiary entrepreneurs of the program.

This agreement will make it possible to provide private mentoring sessions to Honduran entrepreneurs with EMPRO scholarships by FICOHSA executives. 

The main objective of these mentoring is to provide the 40 beneficiaries of the program with adequate preparation in their process of obtaining financing. The FICOHSA executives will review the business plans that the businesswomen have been working on in the past months of their training with members of the INCAE faculty and national and international experts in the subjects addressed. The FICOHSA mentors will ensure that the businesswomen understand the process of formalizing a loan and will provide them with specific advice according to the needs of each business.

These mentoring will take place in the final phase of the Program, after having received comprehensive training during the last seven months. During this period, the participants have acquired knowledge in key areas such as growth and internationalization strategies, product marketing, brand management, increased productivity, financial management, competitiveness, preparation to receive financing, and corporate governance, among others.

"We have doubled the number of mentoring hours that were required according to the design of the Program, thus confirming the commitment of the national bank to accompany us in this comprehensive training process, indicated Gracia María Barahona, Manager of the EMPRO Program in Honduras, since INCAE will sign a total of five agreements with national banking entities for this purpose.

Telma Sevilla, Assistant Manager of FICOHSA mentioned that “We are pleased to announce this strategic agreement with INCAE to strengthen ventures led by women through our 'Mujeres Adelante' program. We recognize the valuable role that women play and that with their contribution they contribute to the economic and social growth of our region. With this alliance, we will provide them with tools, training and resources to boost their business development and promote their leadership in the market”

Within the framework of this alliance, both entities will work in coordination to achieve the established objectives. In addition, FICOHSA will participate in the business roundtables that will take place in mid-June of this year, where the businesswomen will present the projects they have been working on before a panel of executives from the country's financial sector.

The EMPRO Program began in October 2022 and is administered by INCAE and financed with funds from the PriceSmart Foundation and Cargill. During the signing of the agreement, we had the participation of Gracia María Barahona, Manager of the EMPRO Honduras Program, and José Arturo Alvarado – First Regional Vice President of Finance and Corporate Services of FICOHSA.

If you want more information, you can contact Mauren Esquivel at the mail mauren.esquivel@incae.edu