OBJECTIVES
- Allow entrepreneurs to acquire the skills needed to launch and/or ensure the permanence of their activity
- Create an ecosystem that favors the development of the activity of enterprises
“Under the guidance of the Ho Chi Minh City Women’s Union, I enrolled on a business management course and took courses in baking. On the advice of my trainers, I launched an online bakery called “Bep Ba Bi”. At first, I only sold biscuits. Today, I sell everything. My income has grown by 200%. I am able to finance my daughter’s studies in Thailand. Alongside my business, I organise courses to support and guide young women interested in baking in the hope that they will start a trade and improve their living conditions and those of their families”, Thuy Van Ngoc, a beneficiary of the “Micro and Small Entreprise Support” programme in 2016.
An entrepreneurial project for a better quality of life
Help the small entrepreneurs to get out of misery
Small informal local craft, commerce and service enterprises represent the leading employment basin in the world and constitute the main source of income for millions of people. However these activities are very unstable. Without support, they have very little hope of survival and growth. Since 1998, the IECD’s Support for Small Enterprises program offers solutions that allow local entrepreneurs to acquire the skills needed to launch and ensure the permanence of their activity. Thus, they can earn the income they need to meet their family’s needs and improve their living conditions.
Through two programmes, one in an urban environment (Support for Small Enterprises) and the other in a rural environment (Support for Agri-food Stakeholders with the APONH and TRANSFORM projects), the IECD has developed a systemic approach to supporting entrepreneurship based on two lines of action:
1 – Training and support for entrepreneurs.
2 – The construction of an ecosystem favorable to the development of local entrepreneurship.
TRAIN AND SUPPORT ENTREPRENEURS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR ACTIVITY
The lack of business management skills and the lack of access to training is hindering entrepreneurs in the development of their projects. Thus, the IECD has built accessible training paths adapted to each entrepreneur profile, especially women.
Furthermore, the IECD provides personalised support for each entrepreneur after training in order to supervise the development of their activity in the long-term.
DEVELOP AN ECOSYSTEM TO SUPPORT ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Isolation is now one of the main obstacles experienced by entrepreneurs in the casual labor sector. In order to overcome this isolation, the IECD participates in the networking of different entrepreneurship stakeholders, whether in order to facilitate the sharing of experience or to create key partnerships that allow them to find new commercial openings.
The IECD also relies on a network of local associations, which work to implement and deploy programmes. Thus, in Africa, four local structures working together in the Enterprise Development Network, participate in the program’s strategy. In 2017, Madagascar Entreprises Développement was constituted as an independent Madagascan association and became the fifth member of the Enterprise Development Network. The IECD continues to support the empowerment of its local partners, in particular by improving their human resources andthrough local fundraising.
THE RESULTS IN 2024:
Cameroon/Ivory Coast – The TRANSFORM project