The Aspen Institute of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) is holding its Annual West Africa Regional Conference in person Ghana.
The conference taking place at the Kempinski Hotel in Gold Coast, Accra begins on July 19 and ends on July 20, 2022.
For four years, the ANDE West Africa Regional Conference has been a destination event for Enterprise Support Organizations, capacity building agencies, accelerators, academic institutions, and governments that propel entrepreneurship in developing economies.
The event offers tangible opportunities to network, collaborate, and learn with some of Africa’s foremost leaders, practitioners, and visionaries.
This year’s theme ‘Accelerating Small and Growing Business Growth in Africa,’ will promote building better connections across the entrepreneurial ecosystems in Africa to support further entrepreneurial ecosystem growth.
“We will be highlighting opportunities for collaboration and learning across Francophone and Anglophone West Africa, and facilitating partnerships for continued growth of the
entrepreneur ecosystems across the region, with a particular focus on gender equality, employment creation and climate action,” said ANDE Executive Director, Richenda Van Leeuwen.
The conference will feature an interactive agenda with sessions focused on cross cutting sector issues such as gender equality, climate and environmental action, decent work, economic growth, and rebuilding a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem post-COVID.
Some highlights from the program include a keynote address delivered by Michael Mensah Baah, Deputy CEO of Development Bank of Ghana.
Participants will also get the opportunity to attend GIZ’s Private Adaptation Investment Bootcamp that will explore gaps between demand and supply side finance with fund managers including looking at how impact investors integrate climate change adaptation into their investment strategies.
The Conference attendees will also get the chance to engage with ANDE’s gender lens focused digital platform co-designed by the MIT DLab and funded by USAID.
The event will close with a showcase of the UN International Trade Center’s work building business-friendly ecosystems, resilient business models, linkages to national and international business and investment opportunities, and digitalizing traditional MSMEs.
In addition, ANDE will also launch a new report on how Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) has changed in response to COVID-19, with a spotlight on Africa.
The report provides recommendations for how to adjust IMM to measure what is most important in the “new normal” and provides a list of resources and case studies that offer practical guidance.”
This year’s event is co-hosted in partnership with Impact Investing Ghana and made possible by generous sponsors, including Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), German Development Agency (GIZ), Center for International Private Enterprise, Aspire Corporate Trust (ACT) Foundation, and Platform for Agricultural Risk Management (PARM).
Other confirmed speakers and panelists include: –
● Mr Kafui Bimpe, Group Head Business – Access Bank Ghana
● Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, CEO – NEIP Ghana
● Hamdiya Ismaila, Impact Investing Ghana Board Member/MD VCTF
● Peter Bamkole, Enterprise Development Center of Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria
