Who we are
Entrepreneurs du Monde, founded in 1998, is a French public interest association which works with populations in developing countries. The organisation helps thousands of women and men living in extremely difficult circumstances to improve their living conditions, by supporting their own entrepreneurial ventures and giving them access to products which can bring significant health, economic and environmental benefits. Entrepreneurs du Monde helps these people create the conditions they need to become successful, and in turn make economic and social progress.
The modern and economical equipment it offers through its access to energy programmes improves the living conditions of beneficiaries, reduces the risk of poisoning and contributes to a reduction in large-scale deforestation.
Entrepreneurs du Monde works in three particular areas
Social microfinance
Entrepreneurs du Monde offers financial services (loans, savings, insurance, etc.) and socio-economic services (training, individual supervision, referral to other specialised agencies, etc.) to female market traders, dressmakers, hairdressers, farmers and others working within the informal economy, to help them develop their businesses and improve their daily lives.
Support for the creation of
very small businesses
Entrepreneurs du Monde encourages crafters and basic service providers to set up very small businesses (VSB), and it supports some young people to find employment.
Access to energy
Entrepreneurs du Monde enables the distribution of products which provide significant health, economic and environmental benefits: gas stoves; improved wood or charcoal stoves; solar-power kits. This area of operation serves as an incubator for social and environmental innovation, benefitting the families that Entrepreneurs du Monde supports. It encourages the development of a local network of independent social enterprises, managed by local entrepreneurs.
An incubator for programmes and provides support to our local partners
11 countries of action
21 programmes
183 037 beneficiaries
Results 2017
- Technical support: Entrepreneurs du Monde advises partners and provides them with the means to diversify their services, implement the most suitable lending methodology, use appropriate management tools, and also strengthen and measure their social performance. We also help them to choose an appropriate legal structure, to improve their governance and to seek funding.
- Financial support: we cover the operating loss of the programme or partner until it achieves financial sustainability, which takes an average of 5 years.
Today 18 programs are being incubated, 3 programmes are autonomous and 5 programmes have already become independent (ATPROCOM in Haiti, ABF in Burkina Faso, ALIDé in Benin, STEP in India and UPLIFT in the Philippines).
Our Vision – Our Mission – Our Values
The involvement of our teams and local partners follows these guiding principles :
- Always endeavouring to reach the poorest families;
- Being as closely involved as possible and relying upon teams of people who are local to the area;
- Having a pragmatic and professional approach: answering the needs of partners and beneficiaries in a responsive and relevant way; recruiting skilled professionals; applying stringent, efficient and evolving management methods;
- Operating with the greatest denominational and political neutrality, and social responsibility, in each area of intervention;
- Anticipating, right from their conception, the sustainability of the programmes on three levels: organisational, institutional and financial.
- Contributing to the dissemination of good practice gained through previous experiences of programmes and partners;
- Improving transparency for beneficiaries and donors by providing comprehensive and externally audited information.