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Support to the private sector - Our work and impact

Projet d’appui à la petite entreprise
© Clotilde Bertet

As part of our role as a public body, our agency primarily focuses on strengthening the public sector in our partner countries. However, to foster economic and human development, supporting the private sector is equally essential.

As France’s public agency for international development cooperation, we implement projects aimed at developing a strong and dynamic private sector, capable of driving both economic growth and job creation. Strengthening the private sector and fostering public-private partnerships also helps build a positive synergy that benefits society as a whole.

3% of the GDP of Sub-Saharan Africa invested in infrastructure by the private sector

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), by the end of the decade, the private sector could provide additional annual funding for infrastructure equivalent to 3% of the GDP of Sub-Saharan Africa. However, the African private sector remains at a limited stage of development. According to available data, in 2020 private investment represented on average 13% of GDP. And there is great disparity in this figure, as private investment represented 7.4% of GDP in Sierra Leone, 16.5% in Côte d’Ivoire, and as much as 28.4% in Senegal.

Support to the private sector is a cross-cutting theme within our agency and applies to a wide range of our focus areas, especially entrepreneurship and trade. Our work centres on the following areas:

  • Supporting entrepreneurship: Strengthen and structure entrepreneurship ecosystems while fostering the emergence of a favourable environment for entrepreneurship
  • Improving the business environment: Promote women’s economic empowerment, develop one-stop shops, digitalise administrative procedures, and support investment promotion agencies
  • Enhancing our partners’ trade capacity: Develop trade and exports, and support inclusive and sustainable economic zones, export promotion agencies and the industrialisation strategies of our partner countries
  • Promoting economic and regional integration: support trade agreements and inclusive and sustainable corridors.

“Public-private partnerships foster innovation by building on the interests and priorities of both sectors: they are complementary. The private sector brings funding and expertise, while the public sector provides the regulatory framework and helps develop national partnerships. It is essential to bring together start-ups, universities, and research institutions to work towards more ethical and stable AI.”

Samar Sobeih

  • Member of the OECD AI Policy Observatory and Head of Partnerships at the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
Portrait de Samar Sobeih

Our agency is committed to tackling inequalities and promoting economic and social development. We do so through our support to the private sector as outlined in our Contract of Objectives and Means, an agreement between Expertise France and the French government regarding our budget and strategic priorities for the coming years. This contract states that our work must “primarily aim to reduce multidimensional inequalities, including gender inequalities, improve well-being and access to essential goods and services, foster social and economic inclusion, and strengthen the private sector for economic and social development.”

Our work also aligns with French, European and international priorities, such as the Global Gateway initiative of the European Commission, and the objectives set by France’s Presidential Council for International Partnerships (CPPI). Finally, we contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 9, which calls for “building resilient infrastructures, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and fostering innovation.”

For further reading

Our services to the private sector are based on co-creation with our partners. They include technical assistance, the deployment of experts, and support to local innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems – particularly in the digital sector.

We support the green transition of the private sector and the incorporation of gender considerations into entrepreneurship projects, as well as skills development within private sector businesses in the digital, technical and financial sectors, among others.

Resources for download

Key figures in 2024

  • 143 organisations received support in helping businesses to develop and grow. These included 77 incubators and accelerators as well as 28 civil society organisations (CSOs)
  • 3,274 businesses or business projects received support

Our other focus areas