Ease of access to financing. A project to set up a revolving fund to support the installation and development of young entrepreneurs in aquaculture was launched on June 2, 2026 in Elavagnon (plateau region).
This initiative of the Education and Development Agency (AED), with the financial support of the European Union, is endowed with an envelope of one million euros, or about 655 million FCFA.
It aims to respond to one of the main challenges facing young graduates, which is essentially access to funding.
Through this innovative mechanism, the AED wants to facilitate the professional integration of graduates of the Institut de Formation en Alternance pour le Développement (IFAD-Aquaculture) while contributing to the sustainable development of the national aquaculture sector.
« Without adequate financial resources, promising projects may remain in the state of ideas, thus depriving the country of the talent, jobs and wealth it needs. It is to meet this challenge that the European Union has decided to support the establishment of this revolving fund, » explains Gwilym JONES, EU Ambassador to Togo at the launch of the project at IFAD-Aquaculture.
« This mechanism for us has an essential advantage, it is not a one-off financing, but a sustainable tool that will make it possible, thanks to the reimbursements of the beneficiaries, to successively finance several generations of entrepreneurs. Each young person accompanied today will thus contribute to offering an opportunity to other young people tomorrow, » he continues.
Unlike traditional grant schemes, the revolving fund is based on a principle of renewable financing.
Recipients receive financial support to launch or develop their aquaculture activities, and then gradually repay the amounts granted.
These resources are then reinjected into the fund to finance new projects carried out by other young entrepreneurs.
For the AED, this approach maximizes the impact of the resources mobilized and ensures the sustainability of the system over the long term.
It also offers the possibility for several generations of graduates to benefit from the same support mechanism, thus creating a virtuous circle in the service of employment and aquaculture production.
« Knowing that access to financing remains one of the main obstacles faced by young entrepreneurs in the sector, the revolving fund set up as part of this project provides a concrete response to this problem, » says Dammipi Noupokou, director of the Education-Development Agency (AED).
Beyond financing, he says, « beneficiaries will receive comprehensive support including training in financial management, corporate structuring, as well as technical and entrepreneurial monitoring promoting the success and sustainability of their activities ».
Ultimately, the project aims to make operational a sustainable mechanism for financing aquaculture entrepreneurship, to allow the creation of at least 50 new aquaculture companies, to generate more than 100 sustainable jobs and to contribute to the production of more than 500 tons of fish per year by accompanied young graduates.
source : agridigital
