In March 2016 we had the honour to sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MoU) with our Cuban counterpart ANEC (La Asociación Nacional de Economistas y Contadores de Cuba), a Cuban NGO that already provides training on accountancy to the self-employed in Cuba. ANEC is a large and well organised organisation with over 80.000 members and locations in more than 80 Cuban cities.
This MoU was our first to sign but hopefully there will be more to follow! Either with ANEC – on the next part of our project – or with another Dutch or Cuban organisation that wishes to collaborate with Stichting Credit4Cuba in the field of training, coaching or access to funding to the small and growing entrepreneurs on the tropical island. The MoU with ANEC is dedicated to setting up training and coaching for the Cuban entrepreneurs. It is a great start, but of course our initiative entails more than assisting the entrepreneurs with training and coaching. It takes more to empower them, for example financial training and assistance with access to funding is also part of our full plan. Furthermore, we are also looking in to Technical Assistance and training on Inclusive Finance for the Cuban banks that provide micro-credits to the small and growing entrepreneurs. At the end of April we will discuss a possible cooperation with the UNDP on this topic.
By signing the MoU the President of ANEC, Oscar Luis Hung Pentón, gave his approval to kick-off a pilot sequence of interactive workshops on various subjects of interest to the entrepreneurs, like Marketing, Financial Products for Entrepreneurs, Micro-Credits, Hospitality, Personal Branding etc. The workshops have an interactive character, meaning that active participation of the participants is required to bring the workshops to a success. There will be lot’s of room for the participants to ask questions as well as share experiences and ideas. This is in line with the character of our foundation: we wish to collaborate with the Cubans and Cuban organisations! To assist the entrepreneurs with starting or growing an enterprise and also learn from them what their needs, wishes and dreams are, so that we can adapt our offer to the needs of the Cuban entrepreneurs and the Cuban organisation already assisting them.
After the MoU was signed, Francesco Paco Borrás from ANEC and us immediately started with setting up meetings with experts and organisations, discussing ideas and possible workshops, and scheduling the first workshops. Hence, we are proud to announce that on the 29th of April ANEC and Stichting Credit4Cuba will provide the first interactive workshop on Client Orientation & Hospitality at ANEC’s head-office in Havana. Next to this workshop Francesco Paco Borrás is rolling out various workshops in the month of May by Cuban professors, experts and consultants from the CEEC (Centro de Estudios de la Economía Cubana), University of Havana and other institutions. Stichting Credit4Cuba is talking with different people and organisations, like 
Ayani, Qredits and PUM to provide more workshops in Havana in the coming months. And we are open to discuss more interesting ideas so we invite you to contact us if you are interested in collaborating with us in the field of training and coaching to the self-employed in Cuba.
We look forward to the 29th! Please stay tuned for a report on the first workshop, provided in close cooperation with ANEC.
For more information or if you are interested in providing a workshop in Cuba you can contact us at info@credit4cuba.com.