Two Africa-focused events are scheduled to take place at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Milan, Italy, this week, while there are a number of nominations from the continent for the event’s awards ceremony.
The Global Entrepreneurship Congress, which first took place in 2009, begins today and finishes on March 19, with two events listed specifically targeting Africa.
The Business Process Re-engineering: From idea to commercialisation session on Tuesday, March 17, will feature experts from the South African delegation, led by Sustainable Entrepreneur Accelerator Africa and the South African Bureau of Standards Design Institute.
Organisers say the session will “help guide candidates through a design process assisting them navigate the barriers and challenges of business design, research and production”.
The Building Cohesive Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Africa session, which takes place on Wednesday, March 18, will feature a series of TED-style talks from experts and practitioners on efforts to make entrepreneurial ecosystems more cohesive. It features presentations from the likes of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, African Leadership Network, DEMO Africa and the Kauffman Foundation.
Meanwhile, the event will also see the seventh installment of the GEW Awards Ceremony on March 18, with a number of African entries up for awards.
PNB-NAPEO of Algeria is up for Country of the Year, which recognises the host that runs the best overall Global Entrepreneurship Week campaign, as well as the Compass Award, which recognises the host that best exemplifies and advances the Global Entrepreneurship Week brand throughout the year, and the Champion Catalyser Award for Events, which is given to the host whose country reported the most Global Entrepreneurship Week events.
Ngwana Enterprises from Botswana and the Middle East Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship from Egypt are among the nominations for the Hosts’ Choice Award, which will reward the most inspirational Global Entrepreneurship Week campaign as voted by fellow hosts, while Ngwana Enterprises is also up for the Rookie of the Year Award, which recognises the host that ran the best new campaign.
Somalia’s Shaqodoon is in contention for the Research and Policy Award, which recognises the host that best engaged policymakers and increased awareness of the need for better data and quality research in the field of entrepreneurship.