According to a statement sent to VerAngola, the program financed a total of 229 projects: "After its launch in March, the Micro Entrepreneurship Support Program financed 229 projects valued at 332 million kwanzas", the document reads.
Cited in the note, the programme's coordinator, Hélder Catombela, made it known that the financed projects created 700 direct jobs and around 3000 indirect ones.
"Of the funded initiatives, 98 more were formalized, and of these, 41 have their employees registered with the INSS [National Social Security Institute], and it is expected that on the closing date, more than 70 percent of these initiatives will achieve the same objective", indicates the announcement.
The coordinator states that, although it is still premature, "since it is only in the sixth month since the beginning of the disbursement process and the management of microcredits", the numbers are presented as "satisfactory and with a tendency to reach a functional and which, if properly leveraged, can be the most accessible and practical solution for promoting employability".
According to the statement, the Government does not have the capacity or is "economically viable" to absorb all the country's human capital, which concerns a "mostly young nation, with a lot of willpower, but unfortunately, with few opportunities". Thus, the empowerment of micro and small entrepreneurs is seen as one of the most viable "alternatives" to promote self-employment and generate employment.
It should be noted that PAME was created with the aim of creating and promoting "income generating initiatives led by young Angolans, with the basic objective of promoting self-employment".
This program is financed by the European Union, having been launched by the Project for the Revitalization of Technical Education and Vocational Training (RETFOP), with support from the National Institute for Employment and Vocational Training (INEFOP), in partnership with KixiCrédito, within the scope of the implementation of a microcredit product aimed at startups.
