Angello helps struggling Moldova communities thrive
Background:
In 2011, Angello UK helped to launch the work of Angello Moldova, a new partner operating in a country struggling to find stability in a post-communist world. Our partners in Moldova could see the importance of enterprise led development in building thriving communities in their impoverished country. Furthermore, they wanted to develop the professionalism of local small businesses and help them access sources of appropriate investment capital.
Our local Moldovan partner Eugenia Clapaniuc (centre) with her team of business coaches.
The Aim:
The aim was to help significantly disadvantaged communities suffering from high levels of unemployment and emigration and for example to support young women who were vulnerable to human trafficking. From a business perspective, Angello Moldova wanted to provide business training where it was previously unavailable and to improve the entrepreneurial capabilities of community members.
Another goal was to provide a mentorship program for future entrepreneurs to show them how to start and expand their companies and to raise capital through links with appropriate organisations.
Our Work:
Angello UK is passionate about the development in overlooked, frontier countries such as Moldova. We look to work with countries who are willing to commit to supporting local partners with a shared end vision and values. For the Angello Moldova project, we brought partnership, connectivity and expertise into local networks in order to build an enterprise ecosystem. Our first step was to work with a local team with sufficient capacity to go on to build a small impact investment fund for Moldova (2012 - 2018), to enable the creation of the enterprise network. Other initiatives followed on from that, for example mentoring of entrepreneurs and building a team of business coaches.
Angello UK discussing ‘responsible business’ with Moldovan entrepreneurs
Measuring Success:
Success can be hard to define. If we measure success by the dedication of local partners, determination, faithfulness and perseverance, then this project has been greatly successful. In the journey to create an effective platform for building a future enterprise ecosystem, mistakes have been made along the way and important lessons have been learnt; both are a vital element in economic progress. The project has so far brought about a number of small businesses, which have had a positive economic benefit to around 500 people.
Angello Moldova commented that “Angello UK have brought vision, ideas, friendship, connectivity to wider networks and perseverance.”
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