The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) successfully launched the pilot training for the “100,000 SME’s for 1 million Jobs by 2021” Initiative by hosting the first Business Bootcamp for 100 SME’s in Lomé Togo on 4 to 6 December 2019 in partnership with Ecobank. The “100,000 SME’s for 1 million Jobs by 2021” Initiative is in line with the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson’s “1 million by 2021” Initiative, which aims to provide concrete opportunities for 1 million youth by the year 2021, in the areas of education, employment, entrepreneurship and engagement.

The key objectives of the Business Bootcamp were to train 100 young SME’s on business and entrepreneurial skills, broaden their markets, and contribute to sustainable SME’s through good financial management. The training was also aimed at developing an SME database for further engagement and knowledge exchange via a Community of Practice online portal. The 100 SME’s were selected through a rigorous application and assessment exercise to ensure there is full representation of all the regions in Africa. 

During her keynote address, Mrs Fati N’zi-Hassane, AUDA-NEPAD Head of Human Capital, congratulated the 100 SME’s who represented various industries across Africa for making it through the rigorous selection process. “When the AUC Chairperson H.E Moussa Faki Mahamat launched the 1 Million Youth by 2021 Initiative, aimed at creating opportunities for 1 million youth by the year 2021, our contribution as AUDA-NEPAD is creating opportunities for 100,000 SME’s by 2021,” she said. She continued to say that by 2023, at least 30% of manufactured goods sold on the continent should be produced by companies owned by Africans. She concluded by saying, “the pilot training for 100,000 SME’s by 2021 has never been done before at this scale and it is an ambitious challenge. Thank you to Ecobank for partnering with AUDA-NEPAD and not being afraid to dream big and co-create the Africa we want.”

Ms Josephine Anan-Ankomah, Commercial Banking Ecobank Group Executive during her opening speech said, “we at Ecobank are excited about partnering with AUDA-NEPAD to invest in one of the most prized assets in our continent – our youth. We at Ecobank will bring our strength to make the 1 million by 2021 initiative successful. Creating 1 million new jobs for youth in Africa is possible, all it takes is for each of the 100,000 SME’s to create 10 jobs,” she stated.

The 100 trainees were taken through a rigorous training curriculum which comprised of the following training modules; (i) The Entrepreneur and Entrepreneurship; (ii) Value Proposition; (iii) Marketing and Communication; (iv) Operational Strategy. Pre-assessment surveys were carried out by the trainees to establish the current level of knowledge of the SME’s, and also to provide the trainers with a clearer picture of their sector, activities, turnover, profitability as well as their finance situations, funding gap and access to finance. Post-assessment surveys were conducted by the trainees to assess the effectiveness of the training. The post assessment surveys showed that 96% of the trainees were satisfied with the overall training, and 80% would like more time for training and coaching in the future. 

An elevator pitch competition was also held for a cash prize, which was raised by trainers, AUDA-NEPAD staff who were present in Togo, Ecobank and Groupe Cofina. The prize was equally shared among the three best pitch winners. 

The trainees left the Business Bootcamp feeling more knowledgeable and better equipped to improve their business financial plans, access financing and better market their enterprise. “The training has taught me how to better brand and market by skin care business, and how to better construct my elevator pitch to potential funders,” said Ghanaian entrepreneur Christabel Ofori.

A Community of Practice online portal will be launched in January 2020 for post training support. The portal will be a platform for trainers and trainees to engage with each other, hold webinars on topics which the trainees have identified require more tutoring and support.