West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP)

As part of the agreed efforts to improve the performance and growth of enterprises in the ECOWAS countries and strengthen the capacity of business support organisations (BSO) in the field of entrepreneurship training under the WACOMP, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation (ITCILO) are collaborating to deliver a business coaching and management training programme to support BSOs working with entrepreneurs and start-ups at various stages of growth.

The business coaching and management training programme of WACOMP involves a “Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB)” training of trainers in each ECOWAS Member State (and Mauritania). The final stage of the training cycle, which is planned to start in December 2020 in each country of the region, requires national trainers to conduct a Training of Entrepreneurs (ToE) to assess their knowledge and training skills. The training to entrepreneurs will be delivered physically by national trainers in accordance with all the COVID-19 precaution measures and regulations. 

By this announcement, we encourage entrepreneurs (or potential entrepreneurs) from the West Africa region who might be interested in receiving SIYB training to express their interest. To this end, interested applicants are invited to send a CV and motivation letter to the relevant training institution and copy UNIDO’s national consultant (please refer to the email addresses indicated below) by 10 December 2020 midday UTC at the latest, and mention: “WACOMP_TRAINING OF ENTREPRENEURS”.

The selection of training participants from among interested applicants will be based on general and business-related SIYB selection criteria, as outlined below:

All candidates:

• Level of literacy
• Level of numeracy

Potential entrepreneurs:

• Level of motivation and availability to start business
• Possess a concrete business idea
• Have the technical skills necessary to start the business

Existing entrepreneurs:

• Have a viable business
• Experience in business
• Position in the business

Not a requirement – but preference will be given to:

• Women entrepreneurs
• Young entrepreneurs
• Entrepreneurs operating in the priority sectors identified in each relevant WACOMP national programme
• Entrepreneurs operating in the priority sectors identified in the WACOMP regional programme
• Entrepreneurs operating or planning to operate in rural, border or corridor zones