MEETAfrica program

11 March 2017 Careers

Published by Paloma TCHUMMOGNI NANTCHOUANG

Viewed 21 times

Supporting entrepreneurship in Africa Launched in June 2016, the European MEETAfrica program will, in particular, enable 65 African entrepreneurs with French higher education qualifications to benefit from tailor-made support to set up their projects in their home countries.

Context

Europe is an attractive continent for many foreign students. France and Germany are among the leading host countries for African students in Europe. With 380,376 mobile African students in 2010, the Africa and Maghreb region accounts for around 10% of total student mobility worldwide.

Most of these students complete their university studies with high-level diplomas. A number of these graduates are increasingly looking to entrepreneurship as a means of professional integration. They want to set up businesses in their home countries, based on their scientific and/or business know-how, enabling them to capitalize on the skills they acquired during their studies. The creation of innovative companies, which contribute to the revitalization of regions and the creation of wealth and skilled jobs in the long term, is indeed a priority.

Through their business creation projects, these people are important levers for the development of their home countries. Aware of the potential they represent, African and European authorities have decided to set up public policies to better support these initiatives.

In this context, the Rabat Process, the Euro-African Dialogue on Migration and Development, has been bringing together nearly 60 European and African countries, as well as the European Commission (EC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), since 2006 to address migration issues.(EC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to address migration issues. Its aim is to find appropriate solutions to combat illegal migration, and to encourage legal migration to act as a lever of development for countries of origin.

With this in mind, Expertise France, the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Campus France and the GIZ are proposing to pool the support schemes they have been running for several years (PACEIM - Programme d'Appui à la Création d'Entreprises Innovantes en Méditerranée for IRD, Entrepreneurs en Afrique for Campus France and Idées d'affaires pour le Développement for GIZ) through the MEETAfrica program (Mobilisation Européenne pour l'EntreprenariaT en Afrique), coordinated by Expertise France.

This program was submitted to the Rabat Process Steering Committee, which approved the principle of funding the MEETAfrica program under the Migration and Mobility Dialogue (MMD) Facility, managed by the ICMPD and financed by the European Union. Migration and Mobility Dialogue (MMD) Facility managed by ICMPD, which supports the implementation of the Process, and is financed by the European Union.

Objectives

The MEETAfrica program aims to support around 80 African entrepreneurs with French or German educational qualifications in setting up high-tech companies or innovative solutions in their home countries, in the agricultural, industrial or service sectors.

Through this program, the consortium made up of Expertise France, Campus France, IRD and GIZ intend to :

Promote the professional integration and employability of African graduates trained in French and German higher education establishments.
Boost the economies of African countries through the creation of innovative businesses by diasporas;
Mobilize the best support structures in the North and South for the creation of innovative businesses to accompany future entrepreneurs.

The MEETAfrica program will also contribute to :

Enhance innovation in developing countries by strengthening scientific teams in developing countries through collaborative project support;
Develop synergies between players from the public/institutional innovation sector in the North and South, the economic world, the academic world and the financial sector, to promote the success of entrepreneurial projects;
Contribute to developing the spirit of entrepreneurship among African graduates trained in France and Germany.

Support for entrepreneurs

MEETAfrica offers the following support services:

Support for market studies and business plans;
Technical assistance for process design, prototyping and development of the original product/service/process, protection of results;
Contacts with incubators in the country, advice on regulations and administrative formalities, inclusion in local business networks;
Help in finding funding and/or mobilizing existing funding schemes.

BACK TO THE FIRST EDITION: 80 BUSINESS PROJECTS SELECTED

They come from Algeria, Cameroon, Mali, Morocco, Senegal or Tunisia and are carrying innovative entrepreneurial projects . On October 19, 2016, 80 young graduates from French and German higher education institutions were selecteds as part of the European MEETAfrica program to benefit from personalized support in bringing their project to fruition. Of these winners, 65 studied in France.

Agri-food, renewable energies, environment, mobile applications, contactless payment, health... The projects are varied. The winners all share the same ambition: to contribute in their own way to the socio-economic development of their home countries.

Baby food "made in Senegal

Siny Samba is one of the program's prizewinners. After completing a BTS in agronomy, the 24-year-old Senegalese joined the Institut national d'études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro) in 2012. She obtained her engineering degree in 2016. Her project: to market an infant food product in Senegal made from local raw materials.

"At the moment, this type of food is imported, but local resources would enable us to produce it locally", she explains. The project was born while Siny was in her final year of studies in Montpellier. To bring it to fruition, she teamed up with Rémi Filastò, also a SupAgro graduate. The two young engineers plan to launch their company within a year.

Improving urban waste management in Cameroon

Rafaela Essamba, 32, is another MEETAfrica award winner. After graduating from high school in Cameroon, she studied languages and international relations at theUniversity of Strasbourg. Passionate about sustainable development, she is now interested in the responsible management of plastic packaging by the private sector in Africa. Her project? To set up an urban waste management and recycling company in her home country.

Waste management is a fundamental issue in Cameroon," explains the young woman. This project will have an impact on the health of the population, on the environment, on tourism..."

A budget of 15 ,000 euros for each project

Like Siny and Rafaela, the young entrepreneurs selected for the MEETAfrica program will benefit from 15 months of comprehensive support: market study, technical and regulatory feasibility study, assessment of economic viability and, of course, support in setting up locally through network development and help in finding financing. Services worth 15,000 euros per project will be provided by a network of partners in Europe and in the countries where the projects are located.

Launched in June 2016, the European MEETAfrica program is part of the Rabat Process, the Euro-African dialogue on migration and development. It is funded by theEuropean Union, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Develoveloppement, and coordinated by Expertise France in partnership with Campus France, theInstitut de recherche et de développement (IRD) and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).