Africa-Press – Seychelles. The “Entrepreneurship and Business Facilitation in the Indian Ocean” (ENFA-OI) program team, led by the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and the European Union, organized a feedback workshop on inventory of entrepreneurship in the Indian Ocean highlighting the real needs of the actors.
This inventory focused on the medicinal and cosmetic plants, seafood and tourism sectors.
The diagnosis involved support organizations and training centers as well as start-ups and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), with a focus on enterprises run by women and young people, in Comoros, Madagascar , Mauritius and the Seychelles. It shows that the needs of entrepreneurs in the region mainly concern:
– Easy access to financing, training and information relating to the various markets;
– In-depth support (mentoring) for the launch and sustainable management of a business, especially for women and young people who are often disadvantaged in the world of entrepreneurship;- Raising awareness of the concepts of blue, green and circular economy in connection with the priority sectors of the Program (medicinal and cosmetic plants, seafood and tourism);
– Strengthening public-private dialogue;
– Improving regional economic competitiveness.
“The ENFA-OI program reflects our desire to develop new levers of economic growth in a process of strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem in our Member States.
This action primarily targets the women and young people of our islands who are key players in the economic fabric of our territories,” said Prof. Vêlayoudom Marimoutou, Secretary General of the Indian Ocean Commission. For Florence Van Houtte, Head of Cooperation Team at the European Union Delegation: “As a regional project, ENFA-OI will also be able to provide specific added value in terms of commercial synergies, sharing of technological innovations, and exchanges good practices between sectors in the 4 member states of the IOC concerned”.This first diagnosis made it possible to lay the groundwork for future actions of the ENFA-OI program, in accordance with the real needs expressed by the regional actors. The ENFA-OI program will thus implement capacity building activities for support organizations and professional associations of the private sector, MSMEs in the aforementioned sectors. It also aims to facilitate exchanges between companies in the region, the dissemination of good practices, the establishment of a consultation framework for support organizations or the organization of a regional pitch competition for start-ups. -ups of the sectors concerned.
The restitution of the diagnosis took place on the premises of the IOC, in the presence of representatives of the ministries in charge of trade, industry or entrepreneurship, support institutions and training centers, experts, business leaders or professional associations of the private sector of the Member States of the IOC.
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