2nd Report LSG meeting - Moldova

A woman with a business idea does not always need a perfect plan to begin. Sometimes she first needs practical guidance, a mentor, digital skills, financial knowledge, or simply the confidence to take the next step.

This was one of the key messages of the second Local Support Group meeting in the Republic of Moldova, organised by AFAM within the IMPACTA project on 30 April 2026 at Glia Impact Hub in Chișinău. The meeting brought together public institutions, business support organisations, civil society, academia, the startup ecosystem, international organisations and women-led businesses to discuss how the IMPACTA training materials can best respond to the real needs of women entrepreneurs in Moldova.

The discussion started from the findings of the national needs assessment, which showed that many women entrepreneurs still face limited access to finance, fragmented support services, low levels of financial and regulatory literacy, and a lack of mentoring opportunities. For women from vulnerable or underrepresented groups, these barriers can be even stronger.

Participants welcomed the proposed IMPACTA training framework, which follows the entrepreneurial journey step by step: from entrepreneurial mindset and ideation, through incubation and acceleration, to cooperation with the wider ecosystem. At the same time, they strongly emphasised that the training should remain practical, accessible and connected to real business situations.

A key point was that women entrepreneurs are not one single group. Young women, rural women, women with lower levels of formal education, ethnic minorities, refugees and displaced persons, mompreneurs, women in their silver ages and career changers may all need different types of support. This is why the methodology should be flexible and adapted to different starting points.

Participants also supported an approach that helps women recognise and use what they already have: practical skills, life experience, informal knowledge, community contacts and motivation. This is especially important for women who may not yet see themselves as entrepreneurs, but already have the resources to take a first step.

The Local Support Group recommended that personal development, soft skills, digitalisation, financial literacy and digital education should be included across the whole training process. These skills were seen as essential for building confidence, employability and long-term business capacity.

The meeting confirmed that the IMPACTA training framework addresses a real gap in Moldova’s entrepreneurship support landscape. It also showed the value of combining international expertise with local knowledge. AFAM will continue working with project partners to ensure that the Moldovan recommendations are reflected in the final training design.

Through this process, IMPACTA is helping to turn training into more than a set of materials: it becomes a shared pathway towards confidence, opportunity and sustainable change for women entrepreneurs.