SME capacity-building Training Course
Nouakchott
The Minister of Youth Empowerment, Employment, Sports and Civil Service, Mr. Mohamed Abdallah Louly, on Tuesday morning in Nouakchott, oversaw the launch of a training course to strengthen the capacities of women- and youth-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Mauritania.
Participants in this four-day training course will follow various presentations, including mechanisms for accessing African regional markets, methods of adopting international standards, the role of digitalization in improving the performance of enterprises, and approaches to adopting environmentally friendly practices.
In a speech on the occasion, the Minister explained that the vision of the President of the Republic, H.E. Mohamed Ould Cheikh Al Ghazwani, places the empowerment of youth and women at the heart of the national economic development strategy, which is translated into the government’s general policy presented by the Prime Minister, H.E. Mokhtar Ould Ajayi, before the National Assembly and tasked the sector to implement it.
He said that the sector has developed an employment framework based on several main axes, including active employment policies that include developing opportunities in productive sectors, promoting financing and accompanying small enterprises, supporting projects based on value chains with real economic sustainability, and providing direct support to MSMEs through the establishment of an entrepreneurship network that provides a range of appropriate services including technical assistance, access to financing, quality certificates and incentive measures to enhance competitiveness.
He pointed out that this training course is the result of a partnership between the ECA Regional Office for North Africa and the MSME support program “Spaces” to promote employment and economic empowerment of youth and women.
The Resident Coordinator of the United Nations system in Mauritania, Ms. Leila Pieterse Yahya, stressed that SMEs represent about 80% of the Mauritanian economy, contribute about 30% of GDP, and provide about 45.8% of jobs.
She said that the formalization of SMEs, especially within the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area, enhances their economic resilience allowing them access to finance, digital transformation, energy transition, and regional and international trade.
The workshop was inaugurated in the presence of the Mayor of Tavragh Zeina Municipality.