Promouvoir l’économie sociale et solidaire dans la région MENA : enjeux et contraintes

Abstract

Selon l’étude de six pays de la région MENA, l’économie sociale et solidaire (ESS) comprend à la fois des entités à but lucratif et à but non lucratif, des coopératives, des associations et des mutuelles. Leurs cadres juridiques et leur impact économique, notamment en termes d’emploi et de contribution au PIB, sont étudiés. Les financements endogènes et exogènes, tels que l’épargne personnelle et les subventions, sont les principales sources d’EPE, qui sont confrontées à des déficiences structurelles dans le système bancaire et à l’absence de produits financiers adaptés que l’industrie de la microfinance devrait surmonter. L’ESS, y compris les institutions de microfinance, joue également un rôle dans la formalisation des entreprises informelles et des employés, ainsi que dans la création d’emplois, notamment pour les jeunes et les femmes.

Fostering decent jobs, formalising informal employment and spurring job mobility in MENA countries

“…The informal economy concept aligns with lucky heuristics, but encapsulates various theories and methodological approaches lacking consensus. It stands as a “fuzzy set” at the crossroads of multicriteria assessments of the informal, the nonobserved and the shadow economies (Adair et al, 2022).…”

“…Hurdles in the formalisation drive include: deep‐rooted bare‐knuckles competition between informal MSEs and formal firms; erosion of the fiscal tax bases limiting the public sectors' capacity; entrapment of informal workers in subsistence jobs without employment protection or prospect for upskilling; legislation lacking standards and guarantees of equal treatment across different categories of workers; and the general weakness of incentives for investment in human capital, technology and infrastructure. Successful formalisation drives should reconcile the promotion of sustainable entrepreneurship advocated by the World Bank, with the ILO‐supported organic expansion of social protections for informal, irregular and other presently uncovered workers (Adair et al, 2022).…”

“…The major component of promoting job creation should take place within formal sustainable organisations. In this respect, for‐profit cooperatives and not‐for‐profit social and solidarity entities (SSEs) including microfinance institutions (MFIs) could play a key role (Adair et al, 2022). In the MENA region, SSEs were spearheaded in Morocco decades ago, and were recently adopted by Tunisian, Egyptian and other governments (Prince et al, 2018).…”

“…MFIs will enable formalisation by supporting and incentivising informal businesses and workers to take steps toward inclusivity and sustainability. According to Adair et al (2022), as a paragon to emulate and to benchmark against, the Alexandria Business Association, an Egyptian MFI, managed to triple the count of fully formalised clients between 2004 and 2016 (from 6% to 18%).…”