Agence de l'Entrepreneuriat en Méditerranée (ACIM)

ACIM, the Agency for Entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean,  is an international cooperation agency based in Marseille, whose core business is economic development and the creation of activities in countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean. ACIM supports its approach on the expertise of its network and lasting partnerships with the actors of the creation of companies and the institutions, in France and in the countries of the Maghreb. The professionalization of the actors: ACIM intervenes in the reinforcement of the skills and know-how of the structures of the aid to the creation and the development of companies: trainings, study visits, immersion courses, expert-advice and support in the field, elaboration of 'tools. This transfer of skills aims at the sustainability of the actions and the empowerment of the actors by a co-construction of the training programs with the beneficiary structures.  Nearly 100 business creation players in the Maghreb are trained each year. Support for business creation by diasporas ACIM supports business creators from Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian diasporas wishing to invest in their country of origin: business forums, DiasporaLab, personalized follow-up and support, networking, capacity building of local support structures.  Through support mechanisms for business creation for diasporas, ACIM develops its awareness-raising and support actions, both in Europe and in the Maghreb, in partnership with local institutions and experts. Since 2009, ACIM has supported nearly 250 projects in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The animation of the SIEMed network - Support to Entrepreneurial Initiatives in the Mediterranean Created at the initiative of ACIM in 2016, the SIEMed network brings together more than 50 entrepreneurship support actors from 6 countries around the Mediterranean (Algeria, Egypt, France, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia). The partners undertake to implement concrete actions to promote the creation of businesses on their territory (reinforcement of the efficiency of the actors, networking and exchange of good practices and local and national initiatives, sensitization of the populations to entrepreneurship). The SIEMed network is led by ACIM and will be equipped in 2017 with a collaborative platform for exchange and sharing of tools. The promotion of entrepreneurship ACIM responds to the demand of operators of cooperation for the constitution and the coordination of actions or networking around initiatives promoting the creation of companies in specific niches: sustainable development, innovation, female entrepreneurship, valorization of entrepreneurship with young people, income generating activities. Support for the development of business parks and business incubators ACIM offers operators and developers from Southern Mediterranean countries technical support and expertise to promote the development of business parks. In order to promote the creation of innovative companies, ACIM mobilizes the skills for the creation of incubators and incubators able to support the creators of companies throughout the process of realization of their project.