The role of Start Ups in the economy & continental competition

About this session

Key takeaways

• The role of SMEs and start-ups is now recognized, and this in general on the continent, as essential for the economic diversification of Africa as well as for job creation and the formalization / integration of the informal economy in the economies of different countries. - Africa must take advantage of the opportunities brought to it by its youth and supervise them to allow their growth and development and thereby contribute to the reduction of external expenditure and development of the priority sectors of their country, enhancement of their resources to create jobs and to add value to distribute wealth.
• In order to ensure an optimal ecosystem for start-ups, countries must work on the three main indices of innovation centered on ICT, measuring their strength in ICT (IDI) (use of technology, bandwidth), innovation (GII) and entrepreneurship (GEDI).
• The role of the start-up must be fully deployed for continental cooperation, there is a need for collaboration, an integration that will allow healthy competition between African countries.
• The AfCFTA represents an opportunity for start-ups since it would give them access to a new market: having more trade and training, access to a more harmonized market and a reduction in bureaucracies