4.0 Participant Profile

Trainers

The 30 trainers represented a mix of institutional backgrounds, including trade officers, SME support staff, and programme officers. Digital experience levels varied widely, reflecting the realities trainers face when working across diverse communities.

Women Entrepreneurs

The 27 women entrepreneurs engaged during the practicum were primarily micro and small-scale traders operating in informal and semi-formal markets. Most used mobile phones for communication but had limited exposure to structured digital business tools.

5.0 Monitoring and Learning Approach

Learning outcomes were assessed using a mixed-methods approach, including:

• Digital pre- and post-training assessments
• Daily feedback from women participants
• Facilitator observation of trainer practicum sessions

All tools were administered digitally using Google Forms, enabling real-time aggregation and analysis while remaining accessible to participants.

6.0 Key Findings

Trainer Outcomes

Post-training results showed clear improvement in trainers’ ability to:

• Demonstrate digital tools clearly and confidently
• Break down complex processes into teachable steps
• Facilitate participatory, practice-based sessions
• Teach women with varying literacy and confidence levels

The practicum revealed that trainers gained confidence most strongly when teaching live rather than through simulated exercises.

Women Entrepreneur Outcomes

Although women participated only on the final day, facilitator observations and feedback indicated:

• Increased confidence in using phones for income-related activities
• Strong engagement with mobile money and digital payments
• High appreciation for slow pacing, repetition, and visual demonstration

Social commerce and mobile money emerged as the most accessible and trusted entry points into digital business for women in both semi-urban and rural contexts.

7.0 Trainer Practicum Insights

The practicum, conducted in line with ECOWAS programme requirements, served as a real-world test of training effectiveness.

Strengths observed included:

• Practical, demonstration-led teaching
• Use of local language and familiar examples
• Increased trainer confidence and presence

Areas for further strengthening included:

• Time management during multi-step demonstrations
• Simplifying explanations without losing accuracy

Overall, the practicum confirmed strong readiness for cascade delivery, while highlighting the value of continued mentoring.

8.0 Early Outcomes and Significance

The training generated immediate outcomes at both individual and institutional levels:

• Trainers demonstrated readiness to cascade skills within their networks
• Women entrepreneurs showed increased willingness to apply digital tools
• Institutional participation positioned the curriculum for future replication

While longer-term impact will require follow-up, early signals indicate strong alignment with regional objectives around SME development, women’s economic empowerment, and digital inclusion.

9.0 Lessons Learned

Key lessons from implementation include:

• Demonstration outperforms explanation in digital skills training
• Simplicity is essential for cascaded delivery models
• Local examples strengthen comprehension and confidence
• Digital confidence is as critical as technical skill
• Flexibility is necessary in low-resource training environments

These lessons reinforce the importance of pairing digital skills content with facilitation capacity.

10.0 Strategic Relevance and Way Forward

This intervention demonstrates that practice-driven digital skills training, delivered through institutional actors, can meaningfully strengthen women’s participation in the digital economy.

The curriculum and delivery model are adaptable for replication across other ECOWAS Member States, with minor contextual adjustments. Future iterations would benefit from:

• Structured post-training follow-up
• Continued support for trainer-led cascading
• Outcome-level tracking of women’s digital business use

11.0 Conclusion

The Digital Skills and E-Commerce Training of Trainers in Sierra Leone shows that digital inclusion is not simply about access to technology, but about usable skills, confidence, and delivery capacity.

By strengthening institutions already embedded within business ecosystems and grounding learning in real-world practice, the programme offers a credible, scalable model aligned with ECOWAS Vision 2050 and regional commitments to inclusive economic transformation.