Enhancing learning, dialogue, and experience sharing between Private Sector actors from OACPS countries.

As a contribution to the collaboration and learning between actors involved in the Development of the Private Sector in ACP countries, Business ACP has the pleasure to share voices of practioners from the field. During the coming weeks, you will be able to find out about women and men involved in projects or initiatives related to the Private Sector in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, in various sectors including Agri-business, Women and Young entrepreneurs, Cultural and Creative Industries, Digital entrepreneurship…


Women and Young Entrepreneurs

Young and women are agents of development and change and, as such, are essential contributors to the 2030 Agenda (insert link), including through their ability to innovate. Concrete actions must be taken to meet the specific needs of youth, particularly young women and girls, by increasing quality employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. The support provided by the European Union in partnership with the OACPS includes effective policies in education, vocational training, skills development, access to finance and access to digital technologies and services.

More info:

https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/topics/empowering-women-and-girls_en

 –https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/sdg/gender-equality_en

ACP Young Professionals Network

The African Caribbean and Pacific Young Professionals Network’s (ACP YPN) provides a platform for young people to play an active role in policy-making processes at the national, regional and international levels. They aim to assure that all young professionals can benefit from equality of opportunity by promoting and facilitating the integration of the perspectives of ACP and EU youth in several key dialogues. All their activities and advocacy contribute to ensuring ‘responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels’ (target 16.7) in order to provide solutions for youth and institutions in our societies (SDG 16).

Discover more information about ACP Young Professionals Network here.

Grand Africa Initiative

Grand Africa Initiative (GAIN) is a Pan-African Non-governmental organization on a mission to help African young men and women, betweeen 15 and 35 years, develop and harness their unique ideas, talents and abilities.

Discover more information about Grand Africa Initiative here.

Womenpreneur-Initiative

Womenpreneur-Initiative is a Brussels based organisation, Our activities and initiatives are focused on Belgium and MENA (Middle East & North Africa) region, since 2016 we’ve reached and supported more than 10,000 women. 

Their aim is to advance women’s place in entrepreneurial scene, technology, innovation & society. They meet their aim through a variety of innovative experiences, entrepreneurial activities, mentorship sessions, leadership programs, technology education, networking events and opportunities.

Discover more information about Womenpreneur-Initiative here.


The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how much our lives depend on digital technologies, which are a tool for growth, jobs, sustainable development. For example, digital solutions can improve basic services such as health and education. Tech-Start-ups make an important contribution sustainable development by finding new solutions, making society as a whole more innovative and inclusive.

See also: the Digital for Development (D4D) Hub, (link) inaugurating a new era for the global digital cooperation.

karaAgro AI

About the company: “We give you the tools to make actionable decisions on your farm. We help you with our systems to be able to inspect each and every crop on your field and understand their health, in order to detect and control diseases, pests, water shortages and nutrient deficiency earlier than usual.”

Discover more information about karaAgro AI here.

The BMZ-EU #SmartDevelopmentHack

No country has been spared by the corona pandemic. The crisis has had a far-reaching impact on the global economy, health and social changes – especially in developing countries.

In response, the #SmartDevelopmentHack was launched by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Commission (EC) in spring 2020. As part of an innovative competition, digital approaches were sought out to cope with the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the patronage of BMZ, in collaboration with “Team Europe” partners from the European Commission, other EU member states, technology companies and civil so-ciety; nine winning projects were selected.

Discover more information here.

AU-EU Youth Cooperation Hub

The AU-EU Youth Cooperation Hub follows the 4th Africa-Europe Youth Summit and the AU-EU Youth Plug-In Initiative, which involved African & European Youth in suggesting new ideas on six essential topics to the AU-EU Partnership, compiled in the Abidjan Youth Declaration and the AU-EU Youth Agenda.

Discover more information about ACP Young Professionals Network here.

The agro-food industry in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries has broadened its spectrum over the years from primary production to the provision of value-added products and services through downstream integration of agricultural inputs, and upstream of agricultural processing companies and supermarkets, the availability of trainings and other support services, and the use of innovative financing and trade systems to improve productivity. Women play an essential role in agricultural activities. According to an FAO report, women represent 70% of the agricultural sector workforce in Africa and 10% of basic food processing. They also carry out 60 to 90% of the total rural marketing.

LadyAgri

The LadyAgri Impact Investment Hub is a network of International and African professionals supporting women agri-entrepreneurs in Africa and Small Island Developing States. They have experts across 30 African countries. Their boots on the ground approach allows us to have our fingers on the pulse of market fluctuations and the reality faced by agri-entrepreneurs. They mobilise our experts quickly and efficiently and provide appropriate solutions for local agri-businesses. Their International experts work in tandem with our local experts ensuring we are at the cutting edge of market requirements, local, regional and global.

Discover more information about LadyAgri here.

The Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) also termed “Orange Economy”, defined to include market sub-sectors from art, design, music, fashion and publishing through to computer games, the performing arts, film, TV and radio, yield considerable job and wealth creation for all ACP countries.

CCIs are the sectors that create the highest number of jobs for young people aged 15-29   and have proven to be resilient during global economic crises, with an annual average growth rate of 7.34 % during the period 2003-2015 (see: “Creative Economy Outlook. Trends in international trade in creative industries 2002-2015. UNCTAD, 2018”.)

More info: https://www.acp-ue-culture.eu

The Jewelry Bar by Icana

Icana and The Jewelry Bar by Icana are specialized in unique pieces such as jewelry, bags & crafts.

Discover more information about The Jewelry Bar by Icana here.

Media center