Madagascar: Supporting the Private Sector

PROCOM is the first Programme financed by the European Union to support Madagascar’s private sector. Madagascar SME’s face several challenges, including a lack of funding opportunities or lack of knowledge and institutional mechanisms to export products.

The project has strengthened MSME institutional stakeholders (mainly Chambers of Commerce and Industry and companies) in their technical, managerial, and trading capacities, improving their competitiveness on national, regional, and international scales.

With a budget of 8 million euros, PROCOM covered 14 of the Island’s 22 regions, developing over 80 activities in 10 different economic sectors, including, tourism, agribusiness, handicraft, textile, energy, and construction.

The objectives and results range from increasing business relationships between Canada and Madagascar, to acquiring necessary equipment in relation to the quality improvement of hand-made jewelry, to transforming beans into nutritional flour to help malnourished children. The program also provided trainings for young women entrepreneurs in business planning to develop a “made in Madagascar” label, guaranteeing ethical and quality standards and promoting local consumption.