Washington – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who met with the local advisory boards for the U.S. – North Africa Partnership for Economic Opportunity (NAPEO) during her recent visit to North Africa, praised the work being done by these private sector leaders and innovators in Morocco and in some other Maghreb countries, the Department of State said.
NAPEO is a regional public-private network launched last year in Algeria by the U.S. Department of State jointly with the Aspen Institute to advance the goals of the flagship global partnership initiative, Partners for a New Beginning.
NAPEO Local Advisory Boards exist in Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, with one currently in formation in Libya. Members of NAPEO in these countries work with American and North African business and civil society leaders within the network to foster entrepreneurship, develop market-relevant skills training, and create opportunities for job matching and cross-border exchanges, it said.
The Global Entrepreneurship Program (GEP), part of the Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, is scheduled to launch in Morocco and Tunisia this spring in partnership with USAID.
It will lead entrepreneurship efforts in the Maghreb for the U.S. – North Africa Partnership for Economic Opportunity. The Department of State regularly engages public sector leaders in the Maghreb through bi-annual NAPEO Economic Ministers meetings to discuss the business-enabling policy environment in the region for entrepreneurship and youth employability, the Department said.
