In 2004, The CDE regional office was officially opened in Botswana, and in 2007, following a joint project with the CDE, VPB was appointed CDE Technical Intervention Office (TIO) for Botswana and Swaziland.. The TIOs in each country assist the CDE by identifying opportunities for investment through sectoral and regional private sector programs, servicing individual requests from entrepreneurs, actively seeking out prospects for co-financing, and providing information that will assist in formulating country strategies and budgets for each individual country.
The CDE is an EU funded initiative that is tasked with creating and strengthening SMEs in ACP countries. This is achieved by lending support, in a variety of forms, to intermediary organizations serving sectors and / or trades, firms of consultants, promotion of investment, and development of financial partnerships. The CDEs financial resources are derived from the European Development Fund, European programs, and countries and institutions that delegate resources to it or contribute to co-financed operations.
