Youth entrepreneurship constitutes one of the main axes of the program of the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and has enabled the establishment of a culture based on work and the promotion of youth rights. This is what the Minister of Youth, in charge of the Supreme Youth Council, Mustapha Hidaoui, indicated on Thursday in Algiers at the opening of the third edition of the National Forum on Employment and Entrepreneurship.
In his opening speech, Mr. Hidaoui affirmed that “promoting the entrepreneurial spirit among young people now constitutes a strategic lever for national development,” emphasizing the importance of strengthening bridges between university training, innovation, and business creation.
The minister also highlighted the central role of the higher education and scientific research sector in anchoring entrepreneurial culture within the Algerian university, noting that the advances recorded in recent years have positioned Algeria as “a model to follow in Africa and several countries around the world in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship.”
In this perspective, he recalled the willingness of the country’s highest authorities to evolve Algerian youth “from the status of job beneficiaries to that of actors and contributors to the national economic dynamic,” by valorizing their skills and significant potential.
Still in this logic of promoting technological innovation among young people, Mr. Hidaoui announced the organization, next April, of the first National Olympiad of Robotics Clubs. An initiative aimed at stimulating scientific creativity and the spirit of innovation.
Placed under the theme “The Challenges of National Innovation in Light of African Integration Prospects,” this event, organized by the Supreme Youth Council (CSJ), brought together several government members as well as numerous institutional and economic actors. Notably participating in the works were the Minister of Labor, Employment, and Social Security, Abdelhak Saïhi, the Minister of Knowledge Economy, Startups, and Microenterprises, Noureddine Ouadah, as well as the Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of African Affairs, Selma Bakhta Mansouri, in the presence of representatives from various sectors and national organizations.
Speaking during a high-level panel organized as part of the forum, the Minister of Knowledge Economy, Startups, and Microenterprises, Noureddine Ouadah, detailed the mechanisms put in place by the State to support young project holders.
He notably cited the role of university incubators and Entrepreneurship Development Centers (CDE), which provide a conducive environment for the emergence of innovative projects and enable many young people to become true entrepreneurs.
For his part, the Minister of Labor, Abdelhak Saïhi, recalled that support for entrepreneurship constitutes “a fundamental choice for wealth creation.” He mentioned several incentive measures adopted by his sector, including the reduction of social security contributions for young entrepreneurs, support for startups during their early activity phases, as well as the study of a financial coverage mechanism at project startup, currently under review.
For her part, the Secretary of State in charge of African Affairs, Selma Bakhta Mansouri, returned to the opportunities offered by the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) organized last September. She indicated that this continental event revealed “important and tangible indicators on the ability of Algerian products to be competitive,” while constituting “a major opportunity to valorize national production capacities and strengthen bridges between Algerian economic operators and their African counterparts.”
The meeting was also marked by the official launch of the Nesda National Agency for Support and Development of Entrepreneurship’s online distance training platform, aimed at strengthening the skills of young project holders. A cooperation agreement was also signed between the Ministry of Youth, the Supreme Youth Council, and the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Startups, and Microenterprises to consolidate support and accompaniment mechanisms for youth entrepreneurship.