Marouan Algerian Entrepreneur

Who is Marouan?

Marouan Aoudia, Algerian national born and educated in the US.  At university level, I double majored in International Business and Management Information Systems (MIS).  

As a student, I was among the top of my class and an active member in two student organizations, I was the president of Muslim Student Association (MSA) and vise president of International Student Association (ISA).  Upon earning my bachelor degree, I was granted a full scholarship to obtain an MBA degree. 

Career wise, I started my journey in Gulf Countries within sales function in the B2B sector. I worked in Oman and Dubai in my early years before moving to Egypt where I held my 1^st management senior position as head of Sales and Marketing in North Africa.  After which I changed industries and moved to FMCG sector, working in Morocco with one of the top companies in the world and from there promoted taking on a new assignment in Algeria. My corporate career continued to progress in Algeria, being named the Franchise country manager for PepsiCo and later North Africa Leader for Clorox company. 

Aside from my corporate career, I am a passionate entrepreneur and investor in seed projects. Founded Clip Agency in 2010, a B2B business development company focusing on the Algerian market, which I exited in 2015 via acquisition.  Founded The Address in 2016, 1st coworking space in Algiers serving the needs of independent professionals and startups in the city.  

Why did you enter to Algeria?

I was looking to enter Algeria since I graduated from the university, it was an objective of mine, but the circumstances needed to be right, fitting with my career and future ambitions. So when the opportunity came about with the company I was working for to move to Algeria, I didn’t hesitate to take it.  

My motivation to enter Algeria is very simple.  One is driven by personal desire to be with my family and relatives, and second to contribute to the development of my country in parallel to satisfying my own ambitions. 

Fortunately, Algeria offers this opportunity; there is a lot to be done on multiple fronts.   

What’s THE ADDRESS Coworking Space ?

Let us start by defining what Coworking is first. 

Coworking is a concept that started in US back in 2005 and expanded globally where by today there are approximately 7800 coworking spaces around the world.  Put simply, coworking is a shared space that can be used by any professionals seeking a place to work, to connect with other members and form a community.

 At the Address specifically, we are Coworking space that embraces all professionals regardless of their functional background or seniority level.  We offer an open shared space that be used by members, we have a meeting room, and a small work room.  We offer internet access, printing, scanning,...basically everything that a person needs to work and be productive.

Why Coworking Space in Algeria?

I got introduced to coworking for the 1st time just last year during a visit to the US and it was one of those love at first sight sort of thing, and I immediately thought of seeing this in Algeria .    

Coworking is one those projects that brings real added value to the community and contributes to the success of others, which is something that is deeply imbedded in my personality and fitting to my long term vision of creating various platforms that serves the development of general public  whether as a business or social initiative.    

The concept of Coworking Space is not 

familiar here in Algeria, don’t you think that 

The Address is a risky project   ?

It can be seen as a risky project considering that it is a new concept in Algeria.  However, if you look it from a market need point of view then it makes sense.   

Coworking solves a real issue for independent professionals that seek a place to work, establish a network, meet clients without having to invest heavily on renting an office and enter into a long contractual agreement.  It offers them the flexibility to use the space on need to need basis.

Additionally, the concept has proved its worth and proven to be a successful business concept around the world and even in neighboring countries like Tunisia and morocco, which has somewhat similar demographics and social dynamics. 

What is  TAWJIH ?

Tawjih is a mentoring program, a program that aims to connect young generation with the professional world, with high caliber professionals as their mentors.   

The mentee and mentor relationship lasts for at least 6 months, scheduling 1 to 1 sessions once per month.  The mentee will have the opportunity to present anything related to his or her objectives in life, career goals, challenges, and personal development. 

The Mentor having the experience will support the mentee to navigate his future by offering the necessary guidance.  

 At the end of the program, we aim that the mentee will come out from this program having clarity and clear road map going forward.   The program is free of charge for the mentees, and the mentors are volunteering for this noble cause they seek to support.  

Why do we need TAWJIH?

Every person needs a mentor in his or her life regardless of seniority level, but more particularly it is critical for younger generation who are at university level or freshly embarking into the labor market.  Thanks to our carefully selected mentors, Tawjih offers this segment of the population, who represent the future of our country, the guidance needed to succeed in life. 

How was TAWJIH idea born?

I have taken part of a similar mentoring program in a company I was working for.  It was a program launched for the company connecting high talented employees with senior executives. 

I was a mentee and through this mentoring program I got my 1st taste of the benefits of mentoring, being a recipient of high quality advice.  

The triggering element for launching Tawjih in Algeria was thanks to my interaction with young generation of Algeria in my position as the founder of THE ADDRESS Coworking Space.  I noticed that questions that the youth were asking are not technical in nature, but rather about life in general and how they would go about making key decisions that would define their future path.  

 

What are TAWJIH perspectives?

We will have third edition that will come out in September and subsequently we will have other editions every 3 months.  Future editions we will be enrolling approximately from 15 to 20 mentees, we want to continue to focus on quality and not the quantity.  We want to select the best mentors and be selective when it comes to mentees, making sure they possess the right motivation and inspiration. 

What are the main challenges that Algerian entrepreneur face?

Issues that can face an entrepreneur are two folds.  1st is getting the right financing in place at launch phase, we don’t have many options in that aspect.  2nd and as I stated earlier is the regulatory requirements that serves as obstacles at times.  I would consider the prelaunch phase as the biggest challenge that is Algeria specific.  Post launch it is all about your ability to layout the right strategy and execute with excellence.

How do you evaluate entrepreneurship in Algeria?

We are seeing positive signs in recent years driven mostly by private sector initiatives in the form of coworking spaces, corporate sponsored competitions, conferences, but in my opinion we are still lagging behind the likes of neighboring countries like Morocco and Tunisia. 

The regulatory procedures to establish a startup can be simplified, a hindering block for many seeking to enter the entrepreneurial world. I expect however that this will change rapidly in the near future as our government seeks to diversify its economy and encourage the development of Small Medium Enterprises (SME).

Do you think that Entrepreneurship is a solution to face the Algerian economic crisis?

Definitely, we need to diversify the economy on two fronts. We need to 1st steer away from our reliance on oil and gas, so we must focus on other sectors of the economy. And 2nd we need to steer away from our reliance on mega projects as the drive engine of the economy and support the development of SMEs and micro projects.  In Algeria we have a very rich human resource that is more than capable to elevate the economy so must do focus on leveraging this by paving a favorable ground for them to invest and start their projects.  

Marouan ,Thank you for being my guest on Salma Share

I wish you a successful career and best of luck to THE ADDRESS

Let me thank you also for TAWJIH program.Happy to be part of this program as mentor and family member.

If you would like to contact Marouan, join him on LinkedIn :

Marouan Aoudia

 

If you have questions about TAWJIH, please contact :

contact@tawjih.me 

If you have questions about 

The Address , please contact :

contact@theaddress-dz.com

 

You're welcome in