Webinar – EXPERIENCE SHARING: Developing businesses that contribute to sustainable development in Africa

ANIMA organised in the framework of the MEET Africa project a webinar on opportunities for economic development through sustainable development in Africa on 07 July 2022 at 9am [GMT+0]. 

Who is concerned? 

Entrepreneurs from the diaspora or who have links with Africa and who wish to develop their activities on the continent, in order to know the strategies put in place in different countries to support them. 

The structure of support for entrepreneurs in Africa, public or private, who want to know the strategies put in place by their peers in neighboring countries. 

What is the content of the webinar? 

The webinar gave the floor to African actors working to mobilise and support diaspora entrepreneurs in their countries:

• Mathilde Jacquemin from I&P Conseil
• Moussa Bouaré, from API Mali
• Katieneffooua Ouattara from Direction générale de la Diaspora de la Côte d’Ivoire
• Moderated by Zoé Luçon and Inmaculada Ruiz from ANIMA Investment Network

The webinar allowed an exchange with the participants and to answer a few questions:

• What are the economic development opportunities in Africa resulting from sustainable development? 
•  What are the key sectors that African countries are targeting to further contribute to the sustainable development goals?  
• Are there specific schemes or services to mobilise investment and skills in the sector through the support of the African diaspora, and to maximise the local impacts of their business projects in achieving the sustainable development goals in the country? 
• Which entrepreneurs could benefit from these opportunities? How to access these services and support mechanisms? Who should they contact? 

Watch the replay

What is the context? 

According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s Economic Report on Africa, published in 2019, the financial resources needed by the African continent to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals are enormous, and the financing gap is large. Financing needs are estimated at between $614 billion and $638 billion per year (UNCTAD, 2014). 

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 has wreaked havoc on the lives and livelihoods of people around the world.  Although COVID-19 infection rates in Africa are not as high as in other regions, the economic downturn and social disruption caused by the pandemic is undermining decades of development gains on the continent. In addition, the war in Ukraine has caused food and fuel prices to soar. 

The contribution of the private sector, and in particular diaspora entrepreneurs and investors whose remittances have changed little despite the global situation, to the sustainable and inclusive economic development of African countries is more necessary than ever to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals on the continent. At the 2022 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group held on 23-27 May 2022 in Accra, Ghana, under the theme “Green jobs for youth and women in Africa after Covid-19”, Patrick Verkooijen, President and CEO of the Global Centre on Adaptation, made the link between green growth and green job creation: 15 billion in investments on adaptation in Africa would yield $200 billion per year. 

This webinar is organised in the framework of the MEET Africa 2 programme implemented by Expertise France, financed by the European Union and AFD – Agence Française de Développement