TRAINING IN FASHION PROFESSIONS, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

In Benin, a small West African country of nearly 13 million inhabitants, the national education system has long prioritized classical studies (literature, physics, mathematics, etc.) and relegated vocational training to a secondary role. As a result, fewer than 10% of students who complete secondary school go on to technical and vocational education. Benin has therefore adopted a National Development Plan (NDP) for 2018-2025, one of whose objectives is to significantly increase the number of young people with technical skills.
and professional.

In a context where hundreds of thousands of young Beninese are unemployed or in precarious jobs, the challenge is to create a favorable socio-economic environment that will have a positive impact on the professional lives of young Beninese, particularly young women. Founded in 2019 by three fashion professionals and two business management professionals, the Abikè Fashion House Cooperative has identified the promotion of crafts and self-employment as a solution to these problems.

After two pilot years during which the cooperative tested its model with two cohorts of four young women, it plans to roll out a 12-month training program covering pattern-making techniques as well as business management and creation, enabling a cohort of 20 young women from disadvantaged backgrounds to access employment. The association Réciprocité et Solidarité Internationale thus hopes to help its partner cooperative, AFH in Benin, scale up and conduct training—three cohorts of 20 young women per year for three years—in fashion, entrepreneurship, and innovation.