Business Linkage Program in Madagascar

Deadline: Ongoing Opportunity

A new call for applications has been launched, open to all Malagasy small and medium-sized enterprises wishing to join the programme.

This call for applications is aimed mainly at small and medium-sized Malagasy companies with a strong potential for commercial links with large companies.

The SME Business Linkage programme has three thrusts, relating to access to skills, market and finance.

Regarding “access to skills”, participating businesses benefited from a capacity building programme in entrepreneurial culture, diagnostics, business plan development, and training in managerial skills, coaching and mentoring, as well as facilitating business linkages. Beneficiaries were also given the opportunity to undertake immersion internships in established companies.

Objectives: To enable them to achieve economies of scale and create better employment opportunities for women and young people in key sectors of the Malagasy economy, in order to reduce inequality and poverty by building on private sector development.

Beneficiaries

The main target beneficiaries of the program are Malagasy MSMEs that have been operational for at least two (2) years. The priority sectors are agribusiness, textiles, manufacturing and services. Some large companies, 2 mining companies, 2 hotels, 2 supermarket chains, and 3 textile manufacturers, have already expressed their interest in participating in the project. However, during the preparatory mission, some SMEs indicated that they sold directly to customers inside and outside Madagascar.
Therefore, the training components should include these companies. The project will also ensure a strong representation of women-led businesses, at least 40% of participants. While the project will mainly target formal enterprises, informal enterprises with strong growth potential and willingness to formalize will not be excluded. These companies will be supported in their formalization process. The other direct beneficiaries are the local company that will be a partner of the platform, the local training company, the BDS providers (thanks to the improvement of the BDS content and delivery mechanisms), the partner financial institutions (increase loans to MSMEs) and local buyers who will benefit from lower input costs and reliable suppliers.

Criteria

Open to all Malagasy small and medium-sized enterprises wishing to join the programme
Small and medium-sized Malagasy enterprises wishing to participate in this second phase of the programme, which is due to end in December 2023, are invited to register directly on the page. This call for applications is aimed mainly at small and medium-sized Malagasy companies with a strong potential for commercial links with large companies. Professional groups and chambers of commerce and industry are encouraged to relay the information to their members.
The market access component, which concerns the establishment of a digital platform for connecting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises with large established companies, is underway. This platform, which will be called “Mada Business Linkage”, will allow – among other things – large companies involved in the provision of goods and services to publish their needs for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, via a registration and listing system. The platform will be operational in early 2023; initially dedicated to the beneficiary companies of the programme, it will then be open to any formal company duly registered.
As for the “access to financing” component, a credit guarantee system has been set up with two local partner banks to promote access to financing for small and medium-sized Madagascan companies, so that they can respond to requests from large companies. This can be cash flow or investment financing. The partnership agreements are about to be finalised.

For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3DEsqs3