ENDESA S A : and AFAMMER help smes in rural areas to develop e-business solutions to boost their businesses

• The agreement has been signed by José Bogas, CEO of Endesa, and Carmen Quintanilla, president of the Confederation of Rural Family and Women's Federations and Associations (Afammer).
• The programme, endowed with more than 600,000 euros, is part of the Public Responsibility Plan that Endesa launched last March to help in the fight against Covid-19, which is now working to promote the economic and social recovery of the country.
• A total of 4,000 people will benefit from training courses to learn digital skills; and 150 SMEs will receive the necessary tools to improve and introduce e-business solutions.

Endesa is helping rural SMEs to develop electronic sales solutions to strengthen their businesses during the economic and social crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The agreement was ratified today by Endesa CEO, José Bogas, and Carmen Quintanilla, president of the Confederation of Rural Family and Women's Federations and Associations (AFAMMER).

This direct aid programme for SMEs sets out to ease the difficulties experienced in small rural companies which are finding it hard to adapt to the technologies required to do business in new ways, a problem exacerbated by the social and health crisis. SMEs need advice, training and digitisation to get through this difficult situation, which is why the Endesa Responsibility Plan is investing in providing them with training and specific aid. The regions to benefit from the allocated amount of 615,000 euros are Galicia, Aragon, Madrid, Extremadura, Andalusia, Catalonia, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands. SMEs interested in taking up the opportunity are invited to request information and register on www.afammer.es or write to [e-mail]

In the first phase of the project for rural SMEs, some 4,000 people will be able to participate in the webinars and online classes that Endesa and AFAMMER have designed to develop digital skills. The second phase will help 150 SMEs to implement or promote their online sales tools and start or step up their business capacity by offering them everything they need.

The CEO of Endesa, José Bogas, stressed that this agreement shows the 'company's ability to quickly join forces and direct its projects towards a different, supportive focus, must be one of those lessons learned that is here to stay. Spanish SMEs, particularly those that operate in rural areas, need our support more than ever, because they make up the fabric that sustains us'.

The national president of AFAMMER, Carmen Quintanilla, thanks Endesa for the confidence to carry out this project, which she considers will be beneficial for the rural environment because it will help the development and creation of small and medium-sized enterprises in rural areas. 'AFAMMER realises that rural SMEs need to digitise,' she says.

She also talked about AFAMMER's experience managing nationwide projects of this type. 'We have run training, advisory and technological innovation projects in rural areas of Spain, where we were also pioneers in the need to introduce e-commerce. All the projects we organise aim to make progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and we integrate the gender perspective into everything we do'.

For more information about the project, click here.

Committed to society, Endesa is starting the second phase of its Public Responsibility Plan, with an investment of 25 million euros. The plan was first launched in March in response to the unprecedented demand for immediate aid in our country to address the Covid-19 pandemic. The company spent 12 million euros purchasing medical supplies and on donations to public and private institutions fighting the pandemic to alleviate the pressing initial need. Now comes the time to address an equally difficult challenge: the social and economic recovery of our country and getting emergency aid to vulnerable people.

To this end, Endesa has designed a second phase of the plan that meets the objectives outlined in the first phase, which acts in two defined areas:

Endesa Families

The purpose here is to prevent marginalisation by means of projects that support vulnerable families in the most severely affected areas. Endesa wants to reduce the risk of exclusion by continuing to cover these people's basic needs. In the previous phase of the plan, almost 200,000 vulnerable families were cared for (with contributions from Endesa, its Foundation and employees through micro-donations).

In this second phase, education will be included on the list of basic needs. Endesa is working to reduce the digital divide that opens between children and young people from different economic environments when education becomes virtual and specific tools are needed to access classrooms.

Employment is another of the most pressing needs resulting from this crisis, so training to improve access to the labour market is another of the programme's aid channels. Programmes will be implemented to promote employability in vulnerable groups who are unemployed as a result of the pandemic, through accompaniment, training and skills development.

Endesa Active

Economic revival. Measures to promote the reactivation of the Spanish business community.

Advice, digitisation and financial support for SMEs, the cornerstone of our business fabric. The crisis has highlighted the need to continue supporting the sectors financially hardest-hit by the health crisis and lockdown, through the creation of new, innovative ways of interacting.

Specific local revitalisation plans through collaborations with organisations and institutions specialising in individualised mentoring of companies that allow them to adapt to the post-Covid situation and ensure their survival. Endesa is deeply linked to areas that need, more than ever, specific plans adapted to the idiosyncrasies of each area.

About Endesa

Endesa is the leading electricity company in Spain and the second largest in Portugal. It is also the second largest gas operator in the Spanish market. It is an integrated business operation that encompasses everything from generation to marketing, and through Endesa X it provides added value services aimed at decarbonising the energy used in homes, companies, industries and government agencies. Endesa is firmly committed to the United Nations SDGs and as a result decisively promotes the development of renewable energies through Enel Green Power Spain, the electrification of the economy and Corporate Social Responsibility. We also work in the latter area through the Endesa Foundation. We have around 10,000 employees. Endesa is part of Enel, the largest electricity group in Europe.