NETWORK – With the crisis, ANIMA reinvents its modes of action for more impact

The General Assembly of the ANIMA network held in June approved the association’s 2020 annual report. The members of the association praised the work of the ANIMA team and network partners in adapting and reinventing themselves in the context of the global health crisis.

With 102 activities carried out during the year, the association met all its commitments to its donors and beneficiaries: companies, entrepreneurs and economic development support ecosystems. 

75% of ANIMA’s activities were migrated to digital formats in 2020, which were divided between training activities (more than half of the activities in 2020), technical assistance missions, business missions and support programmes for companies, conferences and public-private working group meetings. 

This new format for the network has proved useful in reaching more beneficiaries. 4530 people have thus participated in ANIMA and its projects (+36% compared to 2019): the number of people benefiting from training has tripled in one year (2660 people) and the number of business meetings organised for companies has also increased by 25% (1388 in 2020). 

Beyond the figures, the members of the network welcomed the contribution of ANIMA in 2020 to the improvement of the business climate of the southern countries. THE NEXT SOCIETY project coordinated by ANIMA is working on the design of tax incentives for R&D in Moroccan companies, and is supporting Tunisian financial regulatory agencies in the implementation of the law on crowdfunding. Five Lebanese universities have also developed roadmaps to improve the treatment of intellectual property in the context of the valorisation of research results towards the enterprise, thanks to the project’s support.

ANIMA was also able to enhance its action to strengthen economic development and business support organisations. The testimony of the Moroccan cosmetics cluster MENARA illustrated the support from which clusters in 2020 have benefited to develop their strategy, train their staff and build partnerships abroad, thanks to ANIMA’s projects financed by the EU and the German cooperation. AMEC (Spanish association of industrial companies) illustrated how the twinning arrangements proposed by the network allow them both to export their know-how and to build a sustainable partnership with CONECT in Tunisia, thus promoting relations between their member companies.

ANIMA also presented the results of the Diafrik Invest project, which ended in 2020, and which aimed to mobilise investments from the diaspora in Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia. With more than 450 entrepreneurs and mentors mobilised, the project supported 136 entrepreneurs, 15 of whom were able to raise more than €1 million in financing for their deployment in these three markets. Diafrik Invest has also initiated in each of the countries a coordination dynamic between the actors targeting the economic diaspora, through common service platforms.

In terms of entrepreneurial support, THE NEXT SOCIETY project showed great agility in 2020, launching new services aimed at pivoting their strategies in the context of the Covid 19 crisis (Ask an Angel programme) or performing a technological upgrade (Tech Booster).

2020 also allowed ANIMA to concretise partnerships with several institutions, and to prepare with them new initiatives to be launched in 2021, to develop the network’s actions in Africa. This was the case with the French institutions AFD, Expertise France with whom ANIMA launched the Meet Africa 2 project to facilitate diaspora entrepreneurship in Africa, with the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and Business, This was also the case with the German cooperation (GIZ) and the Belgian cooperation (ENABEL) with whom ANIMA has developed several technical assistance actions in Tunisia and Guinea. Finally, 2020 has allowed us to initiate new collaborations with UNCTAD and the International Trade Center. 

There are many challenges in our Mediterranean countries: the revival and competitiveness of our economies, the return of attractiveness, climate and sustainable development issues, dialogue and cooperation between organisations and companies in our countries. ANIMA set itself objectives in these areas two years ago, and in 2020 it showed once again that the network was continuing, through its projects and collectively with its partners, to take its full place in helping to address these issues despite the health crisis. 

In recognition of this work, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean awarded ANIMA in 2020 an Excellence Award for its commitment to stimulating the economy, innovation and investment in the Mediterranean region.

Read the full report