An incubator to boost entrepreneurial spirit among Moroccan women
2006-08-28
In October, the Association of Moroccan Women Business Leaders incubator will start receiving applications from the first businesses to be created by female initiatives in the field of services and Internet and communications technologies. The UN Development Programme and the UN Development Fund for Women are supporting the initiative.
By Adam Mahadi for Magharebia in Casablanca – 28/08/06
 [File] |
The Association of Moroccan Women Business Leaders (AFEM) has decided to launch an incubator called "Casa Pionnières" to counter the fact that women still considerably lag behind men in the business world. The initiative is dedicated to helping women with innovative ideas create their own businesses in the field of services and information technology.
Casa Pionnières aims to contribute to Morocco's economic fabric. In Morocco, most women business leaders work in the informal sector, such as domestic work, meaning their work and contributions do not appear in national economic statistics. Much of their work is also performed under difficult, precarious conditions for low wages.
Project co-ordinator Salwa Kerki Bekziz, the ex-president of AFEM, thinks the project can be a first step towards bringing about change
"The appeal for applications will be launched by Casa Pionnières during October with a view to select projects to benefit from personalised assistance and mutualised services," she said. The incubator steering committee will select the 25 projects to benefit from accommodation, equipment, assistance, training, and networking.
After the selection of future beneficiaries, the project has planned a preliminary "pre-incubation phase" to help the women prepare their business plans and gain training in administrative, financial and marketing management techniques.
The final aim of the AFEM incubator is to teach the women to develop independence so that they will be able to move out of Casa Pionnières.
Once the results of the Casablancan pilot incubator project are in, AFEM hopes to replicate the experiment in Fez.
The 3,500,000-dirhams Casa Pionnières project has the support of several governmental partners and international organisations, including the Ministries of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, the UN Development Fund for Women, the UN Development Programme, Paris Pionnières, the Maroc Entreprendre network, and the BCP Foundation for Business Creation. .
Email to a friend
Print version
أسماء Posted 2008-01-22
I encourage Moroccan women in these strong initiatives full of great vitality. I encourage their entrepreneurial spirit and wish them a good career inchallah.
سميرة Posted 2008-04-09
I am a young girl from Morocco. I want to set up a business but I have a problem. My problem is how to set up a business, and what the method is that I should follow in order to know the profits of this business. Thank you for explaining to me the steps I can follow.
زهرة Posted 2008-05-01
I think that women's businesses in the Arab Maghreb are still prone to the dominant mentality. Accepting the authority of women isn’t easy in our societies.
الهام القرى Posted 2009-03-15
Saving a landscaping company in Morocco. Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you. I am a Lebanese lady married to a Moroccan man and I have been living in Morocco since 1985. I have a diploma of agricultural technician from the institute of Hassan II for agronomy and veterinary. I have set up a company for arranging gardens and a plant nursery to sell and produce seedlings since 1992. The company is located in Rabat in the road of Ain Aouda. The company is famous nation-wide for the gardenia flower. The company has prospered during the first ten years of its foundation. But today, the company is facing problems consisting mainly in the accumulation of due debts including taxes and social security contributions for workers. I am now looking for a partner or someone to buy the company in order to extract it from its crisis and relaunch it again. I hope that my letter be taken into consideration. I also hope that you send me your advice and suggestions. Many thanks, Mrs Elham Elkara, Rabat.
amina Posted 3 days ago
I am a young woman. I have a business. I would like to register with an organisation that helps young entrepreneurs. Please send me the addresses of a few organisations. –Thank you
We welcome your comments on Magharebia's articles.
It is our hope that you will use this forum to interact with other readers across the Maghreb. In order to keep this experience interesting, we ask you to follow the rules outlined in the comments policy. By submitting comments, you are consenting to these rules. While Magharebia.com encourages discussion on all subjects, including sensitive ones, the comments posted are solely the views of those submitting them. Magharebia.com does not necessarily endorse or agree with the ideas, views, or opinions voiced in these comments. This is a moderated forum. Comments deemed abusive, offensive, or those containing profanity may not be published.
Magharebia's Comments Policy