Mourafaka Program: 500 cooperatives targeted by the 4th tranche

The Office for the Development of Cooperation (ODCO) has launched a call for expressions of interest (AMI) to benefit from the fourth tranche of the Mourafaka program to support cooperatives.

This fourth tranche of the Mourafaka program targets 500 cooperatives at the national level and has as its main objective the emergence of a new generation of efficient and innovative cooperatives by helping them overcome certain constraints and difficulties and by guaranteeing them a competitive level of entrepreneurship and innovation.
This program is intended for new national cooperatives with economically profitable, socially responsible and environmentally friendly projects and focuses on strengthening the capacities of a total of 2,000 newly created cooperatives, which will improve and sustain the income of approximately 200,000 direct and indirect beneficiaries.

Indeed, according to the ODCO, "experience has shown that starting an economic activity within the framework of a cooperative is relatively long compared to a traditional project. This is why this program takes this specificity into account and proposes to support cooperatives with an integrated package of services that intervene on essential links for its start-up and the sustainability of its activity."

He continued that "the program focuses on innovative activities that take into account the market-driven sector approach and have economic and social repercussions on the living conditions of populations. Projects that aim to create a new generation of cooperatives, capable of meeting employment challenges and responding to new collective needs, a factor likely to strengthen the chances of success of public action in the field of the social and solidarity economy..."

As a reminder, the Mourafaka program is composed of a series of services provided in three stages. These are the strategic diagnosis, allowing the identification of the cooperative's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats by creating a development plan for the latter, as well as group training for managers focusing mainly on governance, management techniques (stock, human resources, preparation of assemblies, etc.), marketing techniques, and commercial promotion.
It also involves coaching, which consists of supporting each cooperation to improve and professionalize its management, technical assistance, enabling continuous improvement in production and supply, in addition to marketing, providing assistance in the marketing and sales field, including product enhancement (packaging, packaging, labeling, etc.) and conquering new market segments.