Mauritanian waste collection company transforms from nothing into a profitable business | African Development Bank

Lehbib Mohamed El Kory grew up in a humble neighborhood outside Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, and didn’t expect much from life. But he managed to turn his story around through determination and hard work.

Armed with no experience or skills, Lehbib suggested some friends pick up trash in their neighborhood. Today he is general manager of a company with 132 employees.

“We started with a donkey and a cart,” he says with a smile.

After a small service contract with the city council, he registered his company with the Nouakchott Chamber of Commerce, and the company, Agency for Miscellaneous Works (ATD), was born.

ATD has expanded its activity from household waste collection to cleaning and maintenance services for offices. His clients included Banque Populaire de Mauritanie (BPM), which gave him his first loan of $700 to buy a vehicle and necessary equipment.

Lehbib attributes his success to his hard work and the support of BPM, who trusted him and helped him with successive loans, without which he could not have developed his business.

In 2017, the African Development Bank supported BPM’s efforts by providing a $7 million line of credit over five years under its Africa SME Program to support the lending activities of local financial intermediaries.

The program grants standard lines of credit to financial intermediaries who in turn lend them to small and medium-sized enterprises. The funds from the credit line are used by BPM to finance dozens of projects in industry, mining, fishing, trade, transport and services. All of these target industries are known to be very labor intensive. Like other Mauritanian companies, ATD, which has benefited from these credit facilities, has achieved remarkable success.

Aware of his responsibility as an entrepreneur, Lehbid says he wants to “provide livelihoods for as many people as possible while preserving the environment”. His success has positively impacted the community by employing women and young people, even those without a school diploma, and teaching them a trade.

“ATD is like one big family,” he says, posing with his employees in front of a company car.

He adds that the company is driven by a desire to improve the socio-economic well-being of the community rather than for profit and is always looking for opportunities to consolidate its business.

ATD is now a recognized company in Nouakchott and is financially stable, with loans almost fully repaid. It is well equipped with trucks and garbage collection machines, but what makes Lehbid proud is that it has provided employment for young people and women, and some dignity for them.