The projet AJEE: strengthening youth and women’s entrepreneurship in the Drâa-Tafilalet region

In Morocco, in the Drâa-Tafilalet region, youth unemployment and poverty represent major challenges for economic and social development. Despite strong entrepreneurial potential, many young people—particularly women—still face significant barriers to creating and developing their businesses: lack of adequate support, limited access to resources, and weak coordination among actors within the local entrepreneurial ecosystem.

In this context, strengthening the capacities of young entrepreneurs and structuring the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem appears to be a key lever for promoting economic inclusion and the creation of sustainable jobs.

• Strengthening the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem by promoting cooperation between public, private, and civil society stakeholders in the region in order to create a collective dynamic that supports entrepreneurship. This collaboration notably takes shape through the facilitation of a network of stakeholders, the organization of joint events, and the development of collaborative projects aimed at supporting local entrepreneurial initiatives.
• Developing the entrepreneurial mindset among young people. In partnership with several support organisations, notably the Second Chance Schools (E2C), the project raises awareness of entrepreneurship among vulnerable youth through introductory workshops and tailored programmes. The objective is to help them discover entrepreneurial opportunities and strengthen their economic autonomy.
• Strengthening support for project holders and entrepreneurs through the establishment of training and support mechanisms tailored to the needs of young entrepreneurs, while taking into account the specific challenges faced by women. These actions include training programmes for project holders and entrepreneurs, the organisation of innovation events such as hackathons, as well as the creation of an entrepreneurs’ club to encourage the exchange of experiences and the development of professional networks.

Furthermore, the project contributes to strengthening the capacities of local support organisations to ensure the sustainability of the established mechanisms and to improve young entrepreneurs’ access to tailored services.

Concrete impacts for entrepreneurs and the local ecosystem

Through these actions, the project aims to generate measurable impacts for both entrepreneurs and the region:

• An increase of at least 30% in the average income of supported entrepreneurs,

• The creation of at least 50 new jobs through the developed economic activities,

• The continuation of entrepreneurial activity 60 % of beneficiaries one year after support,

• The strengthening of  at least 8 partner organisations, capable of sustainably supporting young entrepreneurs independently.