Grant agreement between AID and the Manzini Industrial Training Centre

The BMEP will provide business management training to Swazi artisans and other small-scale entrepreneurs, along with extension and marketing assistance. A BMEP training center will be built at MITC in Manzini and will contain eight workshops in which artisans who have already graduated from MTIC"s skills training program can practice their trade and begin their businesses. The center will also include a meeting room/demonstration and resource center, and classrooms for theoretical instruction. Two types of training will be offered: pre-service training in business management skills for the artisans working at the center; and in-service training for entrepreneurs already operating small businesses. About 20 persons will participate in each of these types of training. The artisan trainees will be charged rent and utilities and expected to graduate within 2 years and find wage employment or establish their businesses at other locations. MTIC will also provide marketing and extension services to trainees and other small businesspersons. A marketing center will be created to monitor the range and quantity and upgrade the quality of small business products in relation to market demand, and to facilitate marketing by coordinating packaging and distribution and by providing advice on price structures. MITC will also provide access to its Eswatini retail outlet and will expand the latter"s operations. Finally, MITC will facilitate credit from the formal banking system for trainees and graduates and other small enterprises assisted by the program. Funding for such credit will not be part of the grant. ABSTRACTOR"S NOTE: Project authorization of 2/28/86 states that the MTIC grant constitutes only one of two project components. As of 10/3/88, no documentation on the second component has emerged.