Startups in Morocco have been busy seeking the attention of the African Development Bank, through the Souk At-tanmia (SAT) program as the bank continues the process of selecting startups and very small and medium-sized enterprises (TPME) in the three target regions of Morocco, namely Guelmim-Oued Noun , Darâa-Tafilelt and Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceima. Launched in 2019 with funding from the Dano-Arab Partnership Program (DAPP), Souk At-Tanmia supports project leaders with technical and financial support.

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Here Is What You Need To Know

• The program which started Thursday, March 11, is training and giving support to shortlisted candidates with a team of high-level experts, in partnership with public institutions, incubators and actors supporting entrepreneurship in all the three regions.

• A total of 540 applications, including 89 startups and 451 small business projects have been registered since the launch, on January 5, 2021, of the calls for applications.

• Nearly 521 start-up and small business projects were selected, including 200 in the creation phase and 321 in the ideation phase, most of them being led by young people aged 20 to 35, with nearly 22% promoted by women entrepreneurs.

• The preselections were made by the partners and experts of the project management unit, who evaluated each project according to the scoring grid of the SAT Morocco program.

• Souk At-tanmia aims to support 850 entrepreneurs in starting a business. 250 of the most deserving projects will thus benefit from post-creation technical support as well as financial support.

• The program wishes to strengthen the entrepreneurial dynamic by providing, on the one hand, better visibility of the actors and, on the other hand, by improving and supplementing the offer through the coordination of an entrepreneurial ecosystem for better effectiveness and efficiency.

• Souk At-Tanmia is a program that mobilizes local actors, incubators and public institutions for public-private-NGO partnerships. These cooperation models aim to inspire, at the local level, the development of a dynamic of integrated support with, ultimately, the deployment of regional platforms for the coordination of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Souk At-tanmia startups Morocco Souk At-tanmia startups Morocco

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer