DreamBackers Enterprises presnts:
 ASMEC - Africa Small & Medium Enterprises Conference       
                                                      Private - Public-NGO Partnership
 
                                                   
                                                
 
                                               

                                                     Welcome to the 
                           WASMEC- West Africa Small & Medium Conference 
                                                22 - 25 August 2012
                                            HIIC - Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire 

                                        West-Africa SME Conference


Who will participate to the ASMEC?

•Government Representatives
• Para-bank Institutions
• Bankers
• Insurers
• Consultants
• Corporate Law Firms
• Representatives of Microfinance Institutions
• Representatives of International Organizations
• Entrepreneurs
• Students
• Public 


                           
Facts on West Africa viable market:
West Africa’s population is growing rapidly. From 315 million inhabitants in 2007, the population should reach 480 million by 2030 and between 650 and 700 million by 2050. The population is mostly young, indeed very young (60% are under 25 years of age) and will remain so until 2050. Certainly, the growing number of young people could be a valuable resource but it will also increase pressure on the environment and social services according Sahel and West Africa Club www.westafricaclub.org
GDP (PPP) 2005 estimate
Total U$ 342,519 Billion
Per capita U$ 7,890

In developing countries, small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have considerable difficulty obtaining the necessary financial resources to effectively scale up and grow their businesses. Access to traditional growth capital, including debt and equity, is often prohibitively costly, due to such factors as insufficient legal and regulatory policies, and inadequate financial markets.
The development community has tried to address this challenge by creating microfinance lending instruments and private sector investment intermediary institutions that have made significant strides in improving access to capital for individuals seeking US$10 to more than $1,000. Similarly, the International Finance Corporation and other investment institutions have improved access to capital for established firms seeking US$5 million and above to expand their operations nationally and internationally.
However, despite these successes, SMEs seeking US$50,000 to $1 million have great difficulty accessing the required capital to grow their business. For firms operating in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry and in ICT-enabled (ICTE) activities, the challenge of accessing growth capital is particularly acute, because these firms possess few tangible assets that can be leveraged as collateral for loans and often operate businesses whose economics are poorly understood.


Program objectives:
• Support entrepreneurs to create scalable and sustainable businesses through training and mentoring
• Catalyze networks integrating the public, private and NGO communities to create a business environment supportive of SME development
• Facilitate linkages between entrepreneurs and financial service providers to stimulate business growth

Key components:
• Private sector support and involvement
• Skill-building through training, mentoring and technical assistance
• Local support network-building for small and medium-sized enterprises
• Brokering access to finance and venture capital

Brief description of the conference:

The West-African-Small & Medium Conference -WASMEC is a business plan competition coupled with Small & Medium Enterprises training, education and empowerment designed to support the entrepreneurial spirit and resources of the local entrepreneurs and African Diaspora community to promote economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa by facilitating Diaspora direct investment (DDI) in viable small and medium enterprises (SME’s). Specifically, the WASMEC will catalyze job creation, income generation and the delivery of vital goods and services by providing matching grants to African Diaspora members working in partnership with African-based enterprises and/or entrepreneurs.

Proposals will be selected through a rigorous, transparent review process to identify the best business ideas based on evaluation criteria including the quality of the business idea and the management, prospects for sustainability, results orientation and capacity to leverage Diaspora resources. Finalists will be invited to a tree-day pitching event in Dakar, Republic of Senegal in December 2011 where they will present their ideas to a panel of judges consisting of business experts and leaders from the Diaspora community, and other development institutions and private sector companies. 
A grant award ceremony will take in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire during the tree days of WASME Conference in August 2012


The conference’s main components (workshops, plenary sessions, etc.)
The International Conference - Panel Discussions – Plenary-Workshops
WASMEC Business plan Competition
WASMEC Grant Award Ceremony and Reception
WASMEC Exhibition





"We owe it all the peoples of the sub-continent to ensure that they see in us, not merely good leaders waxing lyrical about development, but as the front commanders in the blast furnases of labour, productive investment and visible change."
Nelson Mandela, SADC 15th anniversary summit
Johannesburg 13 September 1995

 
Diaspora Direct Investment
SME Business Plan  Competition
SME Training - Education - Empowerment









 






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      Capitalizing on African Diaspora 
 Remittance into  Full Entrepreneurship
                           ---------
AFRICA SME CONFERENCE SCHEDULE 

West  Conference  Africa August
22-25, 2012 Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire (15 countries)
 
East Africa Community /IGAD SME                                       June 27-29, 2013 Nairobi, Kenya (7 countries) 

Economic Community of Central Africa States                      October 24-26, 2013 Libreville, Gabon (11 countries) 

Southern African Development Community February 20-22, 2014 Johannesburg, South Africa (15 countries) 

Arab Maghreb Union                                                            June 26-28, 2014 Rabat, Morocco (5 countries) 
                             --------------------

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