MEETAfrica (Mobilisation Européenne pour l’EntreprenariaT en Afrique in French) promotes the creation of companies in Africa, through the African diaspora in France and Germany. The program is supervised by Expertise France, in a consortium composed of Expertise France, Campus France, IRD and the GIZ. It is financed by the European Union and the ICMPD (International Centre for Migration Policy Development), and co-financed by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.
Stakes of the MEETAfrica program
Europe is an attractive continent for many foreign students regarding the quality of higher education and available resources for a research of excellence. France and Germany are the first two host countries for African students in Europe. With 373,303 African students in mobility in 2013, Africa stands for 10.5 % of global student mobility.
Most of these students end their higher education career with a high level degree. Many of these graduates gradually see entrepreneurship as a means of professional insertion. Through their projects of company creation with the use of their scientific and/or commercial know-how, they stand for significant levers of development for their country of origin.
African and European authorities are aware of the potential they can represent, and they have decided to implement public policies to better support those initiatives. Supporting the creation of innovative companies, which fuels local activity, generates wealth and creates long-term qualified jobs, is a priority.
Context of the launch of the MEETAfrica program
The Rabat Process, also known as the Euro-African Dialogue on Migration and Development, is bringing together since 2006 more than 60 European and African partner countries, as well as the European Commission (EC) and the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), who openly discuss key migration and mobility issues. The Rome Declaration and Program 2014-2017 of the Process identify among the four axis of the Dialogue the improvement of the synergy between migration and development.
To achieve this goal, Expertise France, the Institute of Research for Development (IRD), Campus France and the GIZ offered to join their developed expertise as part of support schemes supervised by these authorities for years (Programme of Support to Innovative Businesses Creation in the Mediterranean Area (PSIBM) for the IRD, Entrepreneurs in Africa for Campus France and Business Ideas for Development for the GIZ) through the MEETAfrica programme (Mobilisation Européenne pour l’EntreprenariaT en Afrique, or European Engagement for Entrepreneurship in Africa) supervised by Expertise France.
MEETAfrica has been submitted to the Supervising Committee of the Rabat Process that validated the object of the MEETAfrica subsidies programme as part of the Migration and Mobility Dialogue (MMD) managed by the ICMPD supporting the implementation for the Process. The MEETAfrica program is subsidised by the European Union and the ICMPD up to 1.7 million Euros through the Panafrican Instrument. It also benefits from co-fincancing by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.
Objectives of MEETAfrica
The MEETAfrica programme participates in the creation of job, wealth and innovation through the transfer of how-know from members of the African diasporas graduated from Germany and France to countries of origin.
Through this programme, the consortium including Expertise France, Campus France, the IRD and the GIZ aims at the following goals:
- Support projects of company creation designed by members the African diaspora trained or living in France or Germany
- Improve the capacities of partner countries to technically support projects of company creation with high added value
- Design an integrated European scheme of support to the creation of innovative companies by members of African diasporas
The MEETAfrica programme will also contribute to:
- Boost innovation in Southern countries through scientific improvement of teams in the South by collaboration agreements for support projects;
- Develop synergies between players from the public/institutional sector of innovation in the North and South, and the higher education and financial sector to help business projects succeed;
- Contribute to developing the spirit of entrepreneurship among African graduates trained in France and Germany.
Support to projects by Campus France
After the call for projects 2016, the selection committee selected 80 projects of company creation in the fields of food industry, environment, renewable energies, health and new technologies.
The winners benefit from support to improve their project of company creation through the action of entities specialised in issues in relation with entrepreneurship in France/Germany and in countries of implementation of the projects.
Campus France supervises the support of 20 projects of company creation designed by African graduates from higher education and should be implemented in Cameroon, Mali and Senegal.
For additional information, check out the website of the MEETAfrica project or contact meetafrica@campusfrance.org
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