Multinational - African Training and Management Services Project phase IV

The African Training Management Services Project (ATMS) was launched in 1989 as a unique collaborative effort between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the African Development Bank Group (AfDB). ATMS assists African companies, mainly SMEs, by supporting the secondment of experienced expatriate managers and simultaneously supporting in situ training. The objective is to upgrade management skills of local successor managers, the lack hereof having been considered as one of the main causes for weak performance of enterprises throughout the African continent. The Project has operated under three successive project agreements named: ATMS I, II and III. The focus of the current ATMS IV Project is to support SMEs that have the potential to increase their profits, sales and market share and contribute to job creation, technological innovation, exports and poverty alleviation but lack needed human and financial resources. ATMS phase IV is therefore crucial in the transition from a donor funded project to an independently and commercially operating AMSCO that executes its mandate with limited donor funds. The total cost of the project is estimated at US $ 15-25 million to cover the five-year period.