To prepare this design thinking and co-construction workshop, a consultation was held beforehand with 350 entrepreneurs invited to the New Africa-France Summit in the form of a questionnaire which over 40% replied to. This reflects the enthusiasm of this young generation of African entrepreneurs for the creation of new Africa-France connections.
The feedback on the replies to this questionnaire at the start of the design thinking work identified several key lessons. Nearly all the respondents (97%) believe that it is useful to belong to a community. About 20% of them say that assistance with financing is not the only service offered by the communities they are members of: contacts for business opportunities, advice and training score well whatever the size and geographical origin.
91% also consider that the creation of a new community of Africa-France entrepreneurs would be relevant for their company’s growth.
Among the services expected from this new community, establishing connections with suppliers, partners and financial institutions in Africa and France is in demand.
These lessons served to guide the work and fed into the exchanges during these co-creation days in a spirit of solidarity, sharing and creativity.
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Watch the design thinking session
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A rich and colorful feedback session during the New Africa-France Summit
The restitution sequence of the design thinking exercise and the prototyping of the tool for connecting the new Africa-France entrepreneurs’ community took place in plenary on October 8 in front of more than 200 participants. In an interactive and dynamic format, the entrepreneurs were able to present the results of their work and in particular the first services expected by the future community: support for investment, recruitment and management of daily challenges.
In the center: Franck Riester, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, alongside Grégory Clemente, Chief Executive Officer of PROPARCO © Alain Goulard
This key moment in the program of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Space was also marked by the presence of Franck Riester, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, alongside Gregory Clemente, Chief Executive Officer of PROPARCO. They had a long discussion with the team that carried out this work and worked on this prototyping tool.
Franck Riester expressed his appreciation for the quality of the work, the innovative approach and the incredible energy deployed for a quality achievement in a limited time. He said he would follow this work and contribute to the creation of this new community of entrepreneurs.