Burkina Faso: Success of the 1st National Meetings for Vocational Training and Business Start-ups

During these National Meetings, over 600 people interested in issues related to vocational training and employment in Burkina Faso (local and international NGOs, institutional partners, microfinance institutions, private sector, etc.) were able to meet, create synergies and benefit from advice on setting up projects, financing and partnerships.

They were organised in the context of the Employment support programme in border and peripheral areas of Burkina Faso and followed on from the regional days for vocational training and employment, organised in September in Dédougou, Ouahigouya and Dori.

Pooling good practices to support employment

Before a full house, some thirty speakers had come from Burkina Faso, France, Côte d’Ivoire and Mauritania. Ten thematic panel discussions focused on the operationalisation and practical implementation of projects in order to capitalise on and pool good practices for employment support programmes.

A number of topics were addressed: the role of employment support programmes in countries in the region, the issues related to the certification of skills, financing microenterprises and young entrepreneurs, business incubator systems, taking vulnerable groups into account and the role of the informal economy.

Outside the theatre, a trade fair allowed some thirty associations, agencies and training centres benefiting from technical or financial assistance from Expertise France to present their activities and promote local products. The many stands were run by trainers, centre managers or young trainees and were open to both participants in the National Meetings and the general public.

To conclude these two days, Expertise France officially launched the “Entrepreneurship in Regions” competition, which aims to promote business start-up initiatives in the 3 beneficiary regions of the program. A total of 33 prizes, ranging between FCFA 500,000 and FCFA 3,000,000, will be awarded to the 33 most promising project initiators, including a special “Women Entrepreneur” prize.  

A second edition of these national Meetings will be organised in the spring of 2020 and will provide the opportunity to award the competition prizes.

Job-creating territories

Furthermore, these Meetings provided the opportunity to formalise the partnership between Expertise France and the Burkina Faso National Volunteer Programme. Through this partnership, 30 young volunteers will benefit from a first significant professional experience in one of the structures subsidised by Expertise France in the context of the Employment support programme in border and peripheral areas of Burkina Faso.

This employment support programme has been implemented by Expertise France since July 2017 and is financed by the European Union. It aims to boost the employability of young people and women by developing their entrepreneurial capacities via vocational training tailored to local demand. It also aims to promote the creation of productive jobs by stimulating the development of microenterprises and small businesses. Since 2017, Expertise France has been supporting 33 partners in Burkina Faso in the Boucle du Mouhoun, North and Sahel regions. 5,000 young people and women have already benefited from the training courses and/or support for business creation.

Finally, during this event, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Expertise France officially launched the new “Boucle du Mouhoun, North, Sahel: Job-creating territories” project. This will allow Expertise France to further and extend the activities currently implemented in the context of the Employment Support Programme. Thanks to this financing, some fifteen new projects for vocational training and support for business creation for young people and women in these 3 regions will be selected and assisted by Expertise France.

Find out more about the Employment support programme in border and peripheral areas

The event programme is available online.