The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises, Handicrafts and the Informal Sector signed on July 17 in Brazzaville, a letter of agreement for the granting of micro-subsidies to actors affected by measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19).
As part of the central principle of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals “to leave no one behind”, this support will allow these groups to revive their activities, facilitate their access to markets and food for vulnerable households in localities of Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, selected for the first phase. Several fields of activity are concerned, notably ironwork, vulcanization, mechanics, basketry and shoemaking. All for a financing of 54.5 million CFA francs.
These micro-subsidies aim, in fact, to strengthen the capacities of small players in the informal sector, more particularly those operating in sectors of economic activities declared non-essential having been stopped during the period of confinement. The actors were identified in close collaboration with the supervisory ministry on the basis of the data available and the selection criteria previously set (objective criteria linked to the activity, the profile of the actor, the type of activities and the impact suffered).
Indeed, the preventive measures taken by the government to limit the spread of the virus have negatively impacted the activities of actors in the sector concerned and contributed to reducing their income by causing a sharp drop in their substance activities.
“The Covid-19 shook the whole world, including the Congo. It also obliged the various States to take severe measures in order to face this health crisis; these measures have in one way or another impacted the informal sector. This support is only symbolic because the scale of the problem is much greater, ”said UNDP representative in Congo, Maleye Diop.
For her part, the Minister in charge of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Yvonne Adelaïde Mougani was delighted with this act which will allow two hundred players in the informal sector working in selected trades to be able to benefit from financial support.
“You technical partners of the Congo had the initiative to look at what was the situation of the informal sector, obviously on the basis of the mapping that the department had carried out in 2019. Today, we can congratulate ourselves on the signing which is a direct support for the acquisition of a certain number of equipment which will enable them to resume their activities, ”she said.
She also stressed the establishment of a mechanism allowing actors to get used to the revolving credits that will be put in place and change their behavior.
According to 2018 data from the Congolese Agency for the Promotion of the Private Sector, SMEs account for 97% of total businesses in Congo. Of these, 85% work in the informal sector
