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Social business camp
AFD its continuing its acceleration program for entrepreneurs involved in societal innovations in Africa and is acting as a major partner for these producers of societal impacts on the continent.

Innovation does not like to be kept waiting. The Social and Inclusive Business Camp (SIB Camp) is intended for initiators of innovative projects who have come out of the incubation phase and are faced with scaling up. It aims to bring about successful companies which combine economic profitability and societal impacts, via digital support sessions combined with a week-long on-site workshop. 
 
The SIB Camp makes a practical contribution to transforming projects into reference companies in their field via input from qualified experts and moments for sharing between peers. The program also offers a community of mentors, who in turn support committed entrepreneurs, via a community of over 20,000 members. It is a virtuous circle, as summed up by one of the participants at the SIB Camp in 2017: “It is an essential accelerator for innovative projects that produce impacts in Africa”.

Comprehensive and practical preparation

For 2018, the program designed with Emerging Valley – and labelled Digital Africa – will host 60 entrepreneurs producing societal impacts in Africa who have been in business for three years. The digital coaching will start in September, with personalized distance coaching on essential subjects: preparation of the sales pitch, mentoring between peers, strategy and marketing.  
 
From 16 to 20 November, entrepreneurs will be off to the Boot Camp in Marseille for a week dedicated to the key issues they face: effective governance to bring about impacts, how to build an effective business model, map your ecosystem and measure your social performance. The program is built as a preparation for fundraising: on the last day, participants will take part in speed dating with investors looking for projects to finance in Africa. It is the time to jump in at the deep end of the pool. 

Thanks to the Social and Inclusive Business Camp, I have moved my company forward by strengthening my motivation, giving me a clearer idea of the market outlook and advanced reflection on the project’s role in collective development.

Karim Gadjigo (Advise Agency, Dakar), a participant in the Social and Inclusive Business Camp 2017
SIB serious game

SOCIAL BUSINESS CHALLENGE, THE SERIOUS GAME

What type of social entrepreneur are you? AFD is launching its first serious game with a mobile application (for iOS or Android) on the theme of social business. This game is available in French, English and Spanish and will familiarize you with the seven performance criteria (7Ps) on which a social entrepreneur will need to work to maximize its impact: the objective, the public, the products and services, the HR policies, the ethical principles, the profits and the partnerships.

The player needs to decide on its strategy and its operations depending on these 7Ps, with a detailed commercial analysis. These choices influence clients, the community and the sustainability of the social innovation project. At the end of the game, a performance card of the player’s company appears, built on the basis of the 7Ps and validated by investors. This scorecard also allows the player to discover its entrepreneur profile. The card can subsequently be used both as a management tool and as a basis for discussions with potential funders.