2023-06-04 07:55:28
ALGIERS – The Minister of Knowledge Economy, Start-ups and Micro-enterprises, Yacine El-Mahdi Oualid announced, Saturday in Algiers, that a capital increase of the Algerian Start-up Fund will be carried out, in the coming days, to respond to requests for funding.
“The capital of the Algerian Start-up Fund will be increased in the coming days to better respond to funding requests from start-ups,” the minister said in a speech on the occasion of the study day. on “financing and banking support for investment projects” organized by the Algerian Agency for the Promotion of Investment (AAPI) in collaboration with the Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions (ABEF).
Since its creation, the Fund has experienced “intense activity”, recalled the Minister, stressing that the diversification of the national economy “requires varied means of financing and adapted to the nature of activities and investment in terms of innovation,” he said.
The Fund was created in October 2020 by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Start-ups and Micro-enterprises in cooperation with the six public banks with a capital of 1.2 billion DA.
The Fund offers several financing possibilities depending on the nature of the start-up concerned, namely financing up to 5 million DA (maximum ceiling) for start-ups at the start of their activity, financing for companies in activity up to 20 million DA in addition to another financing of 150 million DA (maximum ceiling) for large companies.
The financing is done within the framework of a purely economic approach which does not require interest for the Start-ups but considers them as partners in venture capital.
He also said that micro-enterprises (with less than 10 employees) represent 7% of the total number of companies in Algeria, i.e. an average of 25 companies created for 1000 Algerians, while the world average is 45 companies for 1000. citizens.
It will therefore be necessary to “catch up by encouraging entrepreneurship, particularly within universities, by facilitating the creation of businesses”, he underlined.
He also announced “the launch of entrepreneurship centers at university level in the coming days, with a view to training future project leaders and reducing the failure rate of companies created”.
== Financing of projects at more than 2300 billion Da during the last 3 years ==
In addition, the General Delegate of the Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions (ABEF), Rachid Belaïd affirmed that the volume of financing provided by the Algerian banking system over the past three years has reached 2300 billion Da.
He specified that the validation of financing files is linked to a number of criteria, in particular the presentation of a meticulously studied project, as well as the history of the institution’s relationship with the bank from which the financing request was made. been filed, he argued.
And to note the importance of Islamic finance as a new form of financing in Algeria, recalling that the number of counters for these banking products reached, as of April 30, some 595 units nationwide.
For his part, the President of ABEF, Lazhar Latreche affirmed that the investment sector in Algeria “has made great progress over the past two years”, affirming that “banks and financial institutions will continue to diversify their products to support investment projects, the objective being the development of the national economy”.
The Director General of the National Bank of Algeria (BNA), Mohammed Lamine Lebbou, for his part, underlined that the Algerian-Senegalese Bank, and the other Algerian banks which will be opened abroad, will play “an important role”. in supporting Algerian investors, emphasizing the importance of Islamic finance, an alternative to traditional financing.
For his part, the president of the National Union of Public Contractors (UNEP) and CEO of the “Madar” group, Charaf Eddine Amara said he was optimistic to see the new legal texts, in particular the monetary and banking law, contribute to the elimination of certain problems relating to the financing of investment projects.
The financing of investment projects, believes Mr. Amara, represents the concern of the majority of investors, given the “insufficient” capacity for self-financing, noting that it was important for the investor to present, to the bank, a project studied in a scientific and global way.
The study day was an opportunity for a number of investors and representatives of company presidents to share their concerns relating to land, the interest rate applicable to loans and the processing of files, considering that the latter point will “ensure an attractive investment climate”.
The Minister of Finance, Laaziz Faid chaired on Saturday morning, at the headquarters of the National Bank of Habitat, the opening of the work of this study day, in the presence of the representative of the Prime Minister, representatives of the two chambers of Parliament and directors of public enterprises and banks.
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