TUNISIA – International Finance Corporation (IFC), the main development institution of the World Bank Group focused on the private sector in emerging countries, has launched Start Maghreb to help start-ups based in North Africa.

The startup to be helped with the technical assistance program will be in Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Morocco and will be enabled to grow and develop across North Africa.

The Start Maghreb program brings together start-ups, incubators, accelerators, investors, public institutions and donors, in order to share knowledge, identify blocking points and find solutions to promote development. of these start-ups, IFC says on its website.

Entrepreneurs and start-ups occupy an important place in the economies of the Maghreb: they contribute to innovation, job creation and growth. But the ecosystem in which they operate is not sufficiently developed and start-ups face a number of difficulties, whether in finding markets, launching new products or accessing financing.

“The youth of the Maghreb are among the most innovative in the world. They have demonstrated this by creating numerous start-ups that meet the needs of their communities. Our new program will help strengthen the development of start-ups across the region and stimulate regional cooperation and job creation,” IFC’s director for the Maghreb, Xavier Reille, said.

“The youth of the Maghreb are among the most innovative in the world.

Xavier Reille – Director, Maghreb

The initiative will be based on a series of public-private dialogues and will implement targeted programs to meet the needs of start-ups, he explains.

The objective of Start Maghreb is to help start-ups operating in these four countries to access larger markets across the Maghreb and thus create more jobs and opportunities for young people in the region.

This program also aims to facilitate greater regional integration for start-ups, it will allow the development of new partnerships with donors and create synergies to promote the start-up ecosystem across the Maghreb.

In fiscal year 2020, the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, invested US$22 billion (60.28 billion dinars) in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, thus mobilizing the capacities of the private sector to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity.