BIC Africa
Ongoing project
This project started on Jan 15, 2021 to end on Jan 15, 2025.
The relative success of incubator initiatives in Africa has prompted the EU to explore opportunities to establish and consolidate business incubators in East Africa, Southern Africa, and the Indian Ocean region countries.
This has resulted in a programme for ‘Support to Entrepreneurship and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) creation (Business incubators)’ financed under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF).
The Programme features two components:
- On the one hand, four Country Projects that will establish/consolidate business incubators in Angola, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Somalia.
- On the other hand, it foresees the establishment of a Regional Network, the BIC Africa project (African Business Incubator Communities), to provide these incubators with dedicated capacity building and networking support, while providing softer networking services to the wider incubation ecosystem in the region.
This second component of the Programme, the BIC Africa project, consists of the establishment of a Regional Network to provide selected incubators in the countries of Angola, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Somalia with dedicated capacity building and networking support, while providing softer networking services to the wider incubation ecosystem in the region.
Therefore, BIC Africa is conceived as a platform to actively engage key stakeholders and to promote activities relevant to job creation, empowerment of youth and women and the growth of entrepreneurship.
BIC Africa will be implemented by the EBN by animating the Regional Network to support business incubation, which will:
- Foster knowledge sharing and learning among these business incubation programmes - and beyond- with existing Business Incubators (BIs).
- Monitor and evaluate these business incubation programmes and existing BIs that will ensure a continuous and effective improvement of incubation professionals.
- Connect them to similar existing networks.
- Create an accreditation scheme to certify business incubators.
This has resulted in a programme for ‘Support to Entrepreneurship and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) creation (Business incubators)’ financed under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF).
The Programme features two components:
- On the one hand, four Country Projects that will establish/consolidate business incubators in Angola, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Somalia.
- On the other hand, it foresees the establishment of a Regional Network, the BIC Africa project (African Business Incubator Communities), to provide these incubators with dedicated capacity building and networking support, while providing softer networking services to the wider incubation ecosystem in the region.
This second component of the Programme, the BIC Africa project, consists of the establishment of a Regional Network to provide selected incubators in the countries of Angola, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Somalia with dedicated capacity building and networking support, while providing softer networking services to the wider incubation ecosystem in the region.
Therefore, BIC Africa is conceived as a platform to actively engage key stakeholders and to promote activities relevant to job creation, empowerment of youth and women and the growth of entrepreneurship.
BIC Africa will be implemented by the EBN by animating the Regional Network to support business incubation, which will:
- Foster knowledge sharing and learning among these business incubation programmes - and beyond- with existing Business Incubators (BIs).
- Monitor and evaluate these business incubation programmes and existing BIs that will ensure a continuous and effective improvement of incubation professionals.
- Connect them to similar existing networks.
- Create an accreditation scheme to certify business incubators.
