Republic of Mauritius- Working session to provide technical and management support to SMEs

In his address, Minister Bholah said that the working session is being organised under the SME Mentoring Scheme, launched last year, in line with the recommendations of the Master Plan for SMEs in view to help those facing difficulties in specific areas in their businesses. He indicated that presently some 44 companies have benefited from the services of a mentor mainly in areas of accounting, marketing, management, productivity and IT.

He urged SMEs to take advantage of the Scheme and to follow and implement the guidance provided by the mentors thereby consolidating their businesses.

The Minister further underlined that the world is undergoing constant changes and is progressing rapidly and in order to keep pace with the ongoing changes it is imperative for SMEs to evolve, innovate and sustain. On this score, he indicated that Government will implement several aid plans to facilitate SMEs thus enabling them to raise their standards and further exploit their potential to improve their performance.

He also dwelt on Government’s vision to transforming the Mauritian economy by developing a new generation of entrepreneurs and called on the collaboration of all stakeholders to achieve this goal.

SME Mentoring Scheme

The programme is a developmental partnership through which mentors/industry-experts share their lifelong acquired experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as long term perspective to foster the sustainable growth of SMEs.

Assistance to each SME begins with a growth diagnostic which evaluates all key elements of the business and contributes towards increased sales and businesses growth. The intention is to identify in order of priority the weaknesses or gaps, which when remedied, will lead to the highest possible impact in terms of increased sales growth.