Entrepreneurship & SME support

Supporting entrepreneurship and micro, small, and medium enterprises MSMEs is a key pillar of BDC’s efforts to reduce unemployment in Jordan and promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In alignment with Sustainable Development Goals SDGs 8, 11, 13, and 17, BDC’s programs aim to strengthen an enabling environment in which entrepreneurs can start, grow, and sustain competitive businesses.

BDC supports entrepreneurs and MSMEs through improved access to finance, practical guidance, reliable information platforms, and tailored business development services and capacity-building programs.

BDC training and support models are designed to strengthen entrepreneurial mindsets and skills among youth, with a specific focus on green and social entrepreneurship that is sustainable, gender-sensitive, and environmentally responsible.

BDC also acts as a facilitator, leveraging the expertise of public, private, and local partners, innovative initiatives, and available resources to help Jordanian MSMEs reach their full potential, becoming more competitive nationally and globally, more profitable, and better able to generate jobs within their communities.

Key Projects

Inhad (National Self-Employment Program) 2020-2026:

A UNICEF-supported program implemented by BDC across all Jordanian governorates, offering structured pathways (awareness, and acceleration) that equip youth and entrepreneurs with entrepreneurship skills, mentorship, and access-to-finance readiness to launch and scale MSMEs, create jobs, and strengthen supported SMEs.

EU-Madad Program (Towards Stronger Economic Participation of Women in Jordan) 2018-2023:

EU- supported action, implemented by the EuroMed Feminist Initiative (EFI) in collaboration with the Business Development Centre (BDC) and Tamkeen Association for Legal Aid and Human Rights. The program aimed to strengthening women’s economic participation through capacity building and employment support, including job matching, support to home-based businesses and joint ventures. The program supported the skills development of 5,278 Syrian and Jordanian women to enter the labor market, and seed funding for 50 businesses, with engagement of Women Economic Empowerment Units in targeted municipalities to help sustain impact by building the capacity of government units to lead and replicate program activities in the future. The Program focused on strengthening access to protection, participation, and services for women refugees, and host communities.

Tanmyeh (Access to Vocational Education and Development) 2018-2023:

AFD-funded program supporting access to employment and self-employment through demand-driven training and job matching, with a strong focus on manufacturing-sector labor market linkages.

Azem (Employment, Self-Employment and Resilience Program in Jordan) 2020-2026:

UNICEF-supported It is an economic support project for self-employment, implemented mainly in southern Jordan with a focus on the hardest-to-reach and remote areas. The project supports CBOs and women/youth-led SMEs and home-based businesses through mapping, selection, training, in-kind support, mentorship, and follow-up.

Tatweer (Business and Export Development Project for Jordanian Enterprises) 2005-2012:

A USAID cooperative agreement aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of Jordanian SMEs and maximizing the benefits of free trade agreements, reached 300 SMEs including 75 women-owned/managed businesses, across all governorates.

Iqlaa (Informal Livelihoods Advancement Activity) 2025-2026:

Under the US-fund, Iqlaa program implemented in collaboration with Mercy Corps. BDC supports micro and small enterprises through an EMPRETEC-aligned approach. Iqlaa delivers an intensive program that builds practical entrepreneurship and financial management skills, complemented by one-to-one mentoring and coaching tailored to each business.

Green Links (Green Innovation Links Project) 2023-2025:

EU-funded project in Zarqa and Azraq promoting a green, inclusive economy through circular economy solutions and skills development, implemented with partners including EDAMA and Climate Action Network and targeting a mix of Jordanians and Syrian refugees.

SwitchMed Green Entrepreneurship (Green Entrepreneurship Business Development Program) 2020-2024:

EU-funded green entrepreneurship program that built the capacity of business development service providers and trained green entrepreneurs (Switchers), including workshops, incubation support, networking, and investor engagement.

Heart of Amman (Sustainable Livelihoods Development Program) 2020-2021:

UNDP–BDC project, implemented with Greater Amman Municipality and in cooperation with the National Microfinance Bank, funded by the Government of Japan, to improve sustainable livelihoods for Jordanians and Syrian refugees in central Amman through youth capacity building, community initiatives, entrepreneurship training and grants, and linkages to work-based training and employment (targeting unemployed youth aged 18–40 with at least 50% female participation and at least 10% persons with disabilities).

GAIN (Gender-Responsive and Inclusive Politics and Economics in the MENA Region) 2022-2023:

A GIZ-funded initiative that supported industrial enterprises in Jordan to strengthen gender equality practices and improve gender-related performance, working with 20 key enterprises to strengthen gender-related practices and performance, including hiring and promotion outcomes and the development of workplace policies and mechanisms.

Impact

Outreached

Trained beneficiaries

Opened businesses

Women engaged

Syrian entrepreneurs

This pillar is aligned with the below sdgs

Entrepreneurship & SME support