Africa-Press – Angola. Young people, students and entrepreneurs from micro, small and medium-sized companies in the province of Huíla were Tuesday, in Lubango, urged to prepare business proposals, to benefit from economic assistance from the Support Project for Access to Financing, called “To involve”.
The Envolver project, financed by the European Union, is developed by the National Institute for Support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (INAPEM), IAPMEI- Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation, IP and the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal, the latter two from Portugal.
It has existed for three years and is expected to be completed in January 2025, with the possibility of expansion, initially encompassing the provinces of Luanda, Huambo, Benguela and Huíla.
Speaking at a meeting to present the project, its coordinator, Nuno Teixeira, stated that the idea is to contribute to the growth and diversification of Angola’s economy, making micro, small and medium-sized companies easier to obtain financing.
He highlighted that it is a “big” challenge, especially for micro and small companies as they are segments that involve a lot of distrust on the part of financiers, which is why they hope that young people from Huíla will become interested and participate in the initiative.
“We chose to provide tools, work instruments that bring the financial, public and private sectors closer together, from the preparation of business plans, feasibility studies, risk analyzes on companies to the financial control of projects, all duly adjusted to reality of Angola”, he stated.
Nuno Teixeira said that they are now inviting incubators and consultancy companies to apply so that they can bring together entities that will be certified, so that each one can later have projects to monitor.
He stated that the idea is not to have too many projects at the beginning, but in the first months to create the capacity to test and see if it will work and, from the second semester onwards, to expand the possibility of submitting an application with the tested project and to provide a financial package of large size.
He said that they will launch the competition next April to have incubators and accelerators, as well as consultancy companies, to be able to apply to monitor the projects and in May, open the doors to initiatives to be followed.
He reinforced that if a project in any field of activity that contributes to creating wealth and jobs can apply to be monitored.
“The idea is to ensure that this pilot project brings credibility to the solution that will be worked on, so that financial partners can give credibility and support. We want to make sure that the projects that will work with us, when they go for financing, are taken care of”, he continued.
He warned that the project will not give money to entrepreneurs, but will finance the services necessary for the project to be implemented, such as incubation, setting up offices, consultancy, identification of partners, among other mechanisms that give quality to projects so that they can be accepted in necessary financial partners.
The project, according to the person responsible, began with training actions for these INAPEM technicians, banks, judicial units, entrepreneurs, among others, in the areas of business and finance to increase literacy on how businesses work and how to use money, in which over three thousand people have already been trained.
The administrator of the Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation, IP, Nuno Gonçalves said that they can do a lot if they collaborate with each other, in a competitive world, growing daily.
In turn, the director of INAPEM in Huíla, Julieta de Oliveira said that the project is an indicator to support the local business class, as it brings with it the training and financing component, however they are looking at the initiative to be able to finance , boost and strengthen local micro, small and medium-sized companies.
He highlighted that it is a project that aims to establish collaboration between the two institutions in the field of qualification, promotion, innovative investment, sharing of good practices, looking at financial instruments for entrepreneurs, in the development of actions that enhance business investment.
INAPEM in Huíla controls 1,477, of which 277 are micro, 127 are small and 88 are medium. Of the total, close to one hundred have already been financed within the framework of the Credit Support Program, within the Production Support, Export Diversification and Import Substitution Program (PRODESI).
Huíla is the third province to present the project, after Luanda and Benguela. Students from various higher education institutions, local businesspeople, associations, cooperatives, among others, participated in the meeting.
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