MOROCCO – The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed a collaboration agreement with the Moroccan digital operator Inwi to support innovative startups in the digital sector and stimulate economic recovery, as part of the “Souk At-Tanmia”, project by AfDB.

In a context marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, this alliance will help start-ups develop innovative digital solutions to take advantage of the new opportunities offered by the crisis and create jobs, says a press release from the African Development Bank.

“Supporting entrepreneurship and innovation is at the core of the African Development Bank’s priorities. Thanks to the synergies between our two institutions, we will be able to further strengthen our support for young entrepreneurs, which is crucial in the current crisis context,”said Mohamed El Azizi, Managing Director of the African Development Bank for North Africa.

In the implementation of this partnership, the project leaders selected by Souk At-Tanmia will benefit from specific training, support for the creation and development of their emerging companies and financing in the form of donations of up to 30% of the investment amount.

For its part, Inwi will participate in the candidate selection committees, will support a selection of entrepreneurs in the development of their business model and will support the program’s dissemination campaign among startups, the press release revealed.

Souk At-Tanmia, the same source continued, is a program that mobilizes local actors, incubators and public institutions for public-private-NGO partnerships.

These cooperation models aim to inspire, at the local level, the development of a comprehensive support dynamic with, ultimately, the deployment of regional platforms for the coordination of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Launched in 2019 with funding from the Dano-Arab Partnership Program (DAPP), the Souk At-Tanmia initiative supports project leaders with technical and financial support, the press release reminds us, noting that the goal is to support the very small and medium-sized enterprises (VSE) and cooperatives operating in the three regions of Guelmim-Oued-Noun, Daraâ-Tafilet and Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceima.

The signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of the ninth edition of “inwiDays”, an emblematic event on the digital scene in Morocco.

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