MORE than 600 participants are expected to attend the first Africa SME Champions Forum from 11- 12 November 2014 in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
The specialist recruitment agency AfricSearch, the African Guarantee Fund and Ecobank, the pan-African bank, organisers of the event say 300 SMEs, from the five regions of Africa are also expected to the forum devoted exclusively to African Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
These 300 SMEs will be invited to the forum according to strict criteria: they must be officially registered in Africa, have been legally created at least three years ago, have turnover of at least $1.5 million and a minimum workforce of 10 employees. The SMEs are invited to submit their application on the forum site: www.africa-smechampions.com.
In addition to these 300 SMEs, a number of financial institutions will be present as well as high-quality experts and policymakers. “This forum will be the first direct access platform to finance for the SMEs,” Didier Acouetey, founder of recruitment agency AfricSearch stated.
SMEs represent 90% of privately-owned African companies, 33% of the continent’s GDP and account for 45% of new jobs. “SMEs are vascularising the African economy,” Mr Acouetey noted. “The African champions will be at the heart of the transformation of the continent,” declared Gervais Koffi Djondo, co-founder of the Ecobank group.
The Africa SME Champions Forum will focus on concrete solutions to the numerous challenges facing African managers. Masterclasses, customised consultancy spaces bringing together high-quality experts, and a mentoring programme will make it possible to meet these people’s expectations. “The idea is to bring together at a single location an entire range of tools, networks and services dedicated to SMEs to allow them to put in place, on their return, the methods shared by the community of the Africa SME Champions Forum,” explained Mr Acouetey.
A further highlight of the forum, the Africa SME Champions Awards, sponsored by the African Guarantee Fund, will reward the champions of the future and the top-class financial institutions in support of SMEs.
Created in 1996, AfricSearch is the leading recruitment and head-hunting agency specialising in Africa. It has eight offices on the continent, 40 consultants and offers 500 new jobs every year. It also works towards creating sustainable African companies via forums such as the Africa South East Asia business forum and the Africa SME Champions forum. In addition, it organises recruitment fairs in Paris, Dakar and Abidjan.
African Eye News
