Sales School Milta Ennajah

Before structuring our work around today’s key focus areas, Danone Ecosystem developed pioneering initiatives. Among them, our Inclusive Distribution projects played a central role in empowering vulnerable populations and creating opportunities for local entrepreneurship. 

These early projects laid essential foundations for our current model: people and their communities are at the heart of everything we do. We strive to build truly sustainable initiatives by training and strengthening the capabilities of key professionals and the communities they serve. 

In 2012, Algeria was facing high youth unemployment, and many young people—particularly those without formal qualifications or working in the informal sector—had limited access to stable employment and professional training opportunities. 

At the same time, the private sector was experiencing a significant skills gap, especially in sales‑related professions. Large companies, including food companies, struggled to recruit and retain a qualified sales force, leading to high staff turnover and reduced team stability. This mismatch between labor‑market needs and available skills constrained both employment opportunities for young people and business performance for companies. 

To respond to these challenges, the Sales School project was launched in 2012 with the support of the Danone Ecosystem Fund, Cevital, the CACI (Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and Danone Djurdjura. The initiative aimed to boost youth employability while meeting the private sector’s need for skilled sales professionals. 

The project provided practical sales training to young women and men with no formal qualifications or working in the informal economy, equipping them with job‑ready skills and facilitating their transition into the formal labor market. Graduates secured employment with companies, strengthening their income stability while helping businesses reduce skills shortages and staff turnover.  

By aligning training with market needs, the Sales School supported disadvantaged youth in accessing sustainable employment and contributed to the development of a more skilled and resilient sales workforce in Algeria.