ENTREPRENDRE: a program to promote entrepreneurial culture in French-speaking universities
Deployed between 2021 and 2025, the ENTREPRENDRE program, designed and financed by the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), has helped to establish entrepreneurship at the heart of universities and public higher education policies in the French-speaking world. The results of the program highlight concrete outcomes in terms of employability, innovation and support for student entrepreneurs.
Implemented in ten countries, the ENTREPRENDRE program aimed to develop a structured entrepreneurial culture within universities, in close collaboration with the relevant ministries and innovation players. In particular, it has led to the creation of university pre-incubation centers and the adoption, in partner countries, of the National Student Entrepreneur Statute (SNEE), officially recognizing entrepreneurship as a path to professional integration.
The program has reached over 100,000 students through awareness-raising initiatives, and supported more than 2,600 student entrepreneurs as their projects matured. These initiatives have encouraged the emergence of entrepreneurial projects in a wide range of sectors - technology, agriculture, health, digital technology and the social economy - and helped to strengthen the entrepreneurial skills of university teams.
This momentum continues beyond the program. In 2025, Cambodia officially adopted the National Student Entrepreneur Statute (SNEE), becoming the 13ᵉ country to take this step with AUF support. The SNEE is now in force in 13 countries with AUF member universities: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Haiti, Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritius, Senegal and Tunisia.
Source: www.auf.org/
