AfDB launches project to build resilience of SMEs in Guinea, Ghana and Benin

The African Development Bank Group's country office in Guinea and the non-governmental organization Dare to Innovate have launched the "Project to Build the Resilience of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Guinea, Ghana and Benin".

This project, launched on 5 October, will help to build the capacity of 4,500 micro, small and medium enterprises (1,750 in Guinea, 1,750 in Ghana and 1,000 in Benin), half of them led by women.

With representatives of the Bank and DTI, officials from Guinea’s National Directorate of Public Investments, the Ministry of Youth and Sport, the Ministry of Technical Education, Vocational Training and Employment and the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, as well as the director of the start-up OZE, the implementing partner of the project, all took part in a press conference to launch the project.

"We are delighted to thank the African Development Bank for its constant support to the Republic of Guinea in the fight against unemployment and underemployment. Our country has placed young people at the heart of the Transitional Government's agenda and that is why the project will receive the support it needs from the authorities for its implementation," said Aminata Kouyaté, National Director of Employment and Self-Employment, representing the Minister of Youth and Sports.

Ms Kouyaté stressed the quality of the work done by the Dare to Innovate NGO since its inception, highlighting its good relations with the Guinean Government to implement measures to support social entrepreneurship.

To tackle the challenge of youth unemployment, Dare to Innovate invests in training, financing and post-financial support of project initiators. Created in February 2013 by young Guineans with the support of volunteers from the US Peace Corps in Guinea, DTI has supported the implementation of more than 40 projects carried out by young people throughout Guinea, with more than $3 million in funding. More than 12,000 young people have been trained in social entrepreneurship and 400 businesses have been created, generating 800 direct jobs.

Richard Doffonsou, the African Development Bank’s Principal Country Economist for Guinea, speaking on behalf of the Bank's Country Manager for Guinea, reaffirmed the Bank's support for the successful implementation of the project and called on stakeholders to work on the sustainability of the project's outcomes so beneficiaries could grow their enterprises.

Djibril Souaré, Country Director of Dare to Innovate, and the project’s coordinator, thanked the Bank and partners for the confidence they had shown in DTI through their financing of the project. He promised to do everything possible to achieve the project’s goals.

The Project to Build the Resilience of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Guinea, Ghana and Benin is funded by a $927,807 grant from the African Development Bank. This financing is from the resources of the Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund (YEIMDTF). The grant agreement was signed by the Bank on 24 February 2022, for an implementation period of 18 months.