Seychelles secures one of the world’s leading capacity building programmes |22 June 2019
Ms Antat at the Geneva meeting
Following a request made by the department of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development in March 2019, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has approved to establish the Empretec programme in Seychelles.
Empretec is a flagship capacity-building programme of the UNCTAD for the promotion of entrepreneurship in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to facilitate sustainable development and inclusive growth. It was launched in Argentina in 1988 and since then has expanded to 40 countries across the developing world which includes Mauritius, South Africa and Tanzania.
Empretec’s core product is the Entrepreneurship Training Workshop (ETW), which aims to foster the motivation and self-confidence of participants who have chosen to start or expand their businesses. It is based on a behavioural approach, designed to unleash personal entrepreneurial potential. The methodology has proved to be effective for a vast range of target audiences in advanced and less developed economies. It works equally well for mature entrepreneurs and new entrants, opportunity and necessity entrepreneurs, participants with different levels of education. Tailor-made adaptations are made for vulnerable groups such as women, youth, retired people and participants with low literacy levels. The programme also promotes small supplier development, social and green entrepreneurship.
Parallel to the Empretec Programme, Seychelles will also, with the help of UNCTAD, commence work on its Entrepreneurship Policy. The policy will need to consolidate efforts which has already been done in areas or activities touching entrepreneurship and embrace areas that are crucial to enhance local productive capacities.
During her intervention at the Multi-Year Expert Meeting on Investment, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Productive Capacity – building and Sustainable Development in Geneva last week, the principal secretary of the department of industry and entrepreneurship development, Angelique Antat, asserted that for a Seychelles Entrepreneurship Framework to be successful, sensitisation on the word entrepreneur itself – what it is to be an entrepreneur, would need to be prioritised.
“We need to offer clear reasoning where culture and policy shifts are desirable and guidance for the change. This needs to be done with the private sector, the youth, the civil society, the National Assembly and government. Once those are in place, Seychellois will be able to identify and exploit the right opportunities; they will take stock and utilise resources in an efficient manner; they will understand and properly address their challenges, as and when they arise,” said Miss Antat.
The next steps following these encounters are follow ups from UNCTAD to identify the most appropriate strategy to install the Empretec Programme, initiate the policy discussions and to jointly develop a work plan for their implementation.