Institutional strengthening in technological matters. The PRIMTAF Programme in francophone Africa

This paper deals with a vocational training experiment conducted in Congo in a specific industrial sector, the food processing sector. The context in whichthe PRIMTAF project was created is first described in terms of the country'sgeneral economic situation, the state of the rural and agricultural sector, and theeducational and vocational training supply available in this sector. There was aneed in particular to provide the food processing industry in this country withoccupational skills which were lacking: those involved in food preserving andprocessing activities. On these lines, PRIMTAF (Programme de renforcementinstitutionnel en matière technologique en Afrique Francophone) has launchednew economic activities which, for lack of financial means, do not yet cover allthe occupational specialities involved in the industrial food processing chain.The PRIMTAF project is based on a vocational training model designed topromote the development of a specific economic sector of activity and thevocational qualification of its workers. In this framework, it has been qualifyingboth youths and adults for new occupations and training them to handle newtechniques. The accent is placed here on designing technical and vocationaltraining programs which foster a spirit of entrepreneurship and contribute todeveloping business vocations and making the subject of launching businessstart-ups a vocational training stream in its own right. It is becoming increasinglyobvious that the PRIMTAF project, which combines vocational training andtransition to work, is potentially capable of making a really strong institutionalimpact as long as it is provided with the resources it requires, as well as beingsupported by the political authorities and professional actors