Digitalisation project for microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises

Project

Financing of the economy
Governance

Crédit : Backdrop Agency pour Proparco — Credit: Backdrop Agency pour Proparco

Project start date: June 1 2021

Status
Ongoing
Project end date: April 15 2024
Financing amount (Euro): 1,7 M€
Country and region: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Ivory Coast, Dominica, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago

The project aims to increase the digitalisation of microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs facing Covid-19 in West Africa and the Caribbean.

The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) has over 50 million registered microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). They have been particularly vulnerable to the repercussions of the Covid-19 crisis.

They are real backbones of local economies and account for about 90% of the entrepreneurial fabric and a share of employment of between 50% and 70%.

Digital services coping with health crises

Digital service can reduce the impact of pandemics and crises: remaining connected with institutions and partners is an efficient response to crises. The OACPS and the European Union are aware of how important new technologies are. That is why, they are developing an ambitious programme to support entrepreneurs in increasing their proficiency in digital tools.

The action of the project aims to improve the continuity and recovery of activities in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Though this support to digitalisation, entrepreneurs will be able to adapt their working methods to be better prepared to face current and future crises.

DIRECCT programme: EU ACP Digital REsponse Connecting CiTizens

Expertise France is implementing this project on behalf of Agence Française de Développement as part of the European Union’s digital response to the Covid-19 crisis. The overall objective is to mitigate the impact of the health crisis in partner countries in the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) region in order to help build the resilience, firstly of health and education systems and, secondly, of microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises.

AFD has grouped all its post-Covid resilience projects under the DIRECCT programme. The support is provided through a €15.4m grant acquired from European Union funds (11^th EDF), in coordination with the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). It has been entrusted to AFD (€10m) and Enabel (€5.4m).

Partners in West Africa and the Caribbean

This digitalisation project is dedicated to microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises. It is implemented in close collaboration with FEWACII, Caribbean Export as well as five West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

• Caribbean Export acts on behalf of 15 Caribbean States

• The FEWACCI (Federation of West Africa Chambers of Commerce and Industry) brings together the Chambers of Commerce of 15 West African States

• The Chambers of Commerce animate communities of thousands of enterprises in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo

A technical assistance tailored to enterprises’ needs

Through these partnerships, the DIRECCT project helps to organise field actions along, that will benefit MSMEs and entrepreneurs in the ACP region.

• Training workshops are organised in the field, in capital cities or in regions, in order to build the capacities of entrepreneurs to use digital tools to develop their activity

• Raising-awareness actions on entrepreneurship and digital technologies are set up for the general public, to increase the visibility of these subjects

• Partnerships are established so that entrepreneurs can access larger networks, which could provide them technical support (mentoring, training), or development tools (marketplace)