As African Union Launches its Enterprise African Network (EAN) Fellowship
The African Union has taken a crucial step towards supporting African Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with the launch of the inaugural Enterprise African Network (EAN) Fellowship, which seeks to create a new generation of African entrepreneurs ready to compete on the global stage.
African Union and its Member States are gradually recognizing the role of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in fostering inclusive economic development. In recognition of the SME sector’s position as the backbone of the regional economy, the 20th Ordinary Session of the AU Conference of African Ministers of Industry (CAMI 20) had directed Member States to foster enabling environments for SME growth.
Likewise, the AU SME Development Strategy and Action Plan prioritizes the economic empowerment and inclusion of SMEs as the basis for developing intra-African value chains and bolstering regional trade. The Strategy was endorsed by the Heads of State and Government at the 17th Extraordinary Summit on Industrialization and Economic Diversification on November 25, 2022 in Niamey, Niger.
As one of the approaches to breathe life into the SME Strategy, the AU initiated an annual MSME Forum the maiden edition of which held in June 2022 in Cairo, Egypt. The 2nd AU MSME Forum was held in September 2023 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In June 2024, the AU, alongside its partners hosted a high-level roundtable to commemorate the 2024 World MSMEs Day in Abuja, Nigeria. The roundtable was themed: “Call to Action: Provision of Sustainable Single-Digit Loans for MSMEs,”
The Enterprise Africa Network (EAN) Fellowship is part of the AU’s strategic efforts to implement and operationalize the EAN, which serves as a vital support network, connecting African micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with markets, skills, and funding. EAN was an outcome of recommendations of AU Heads of State at their Extraordinary Summit on Industrialization and Economic Diversification.
The EAN Fellowship was subsequently launched on the sidelines of the 3rd AU Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Forum held September 9 – 13 in Windhoek, Namibia. The AU says the 50 inaugural fellows are innovative African small businesses selected through a highly competitive process from diverse sectors and embody Africa’s next wave of entrepreneurs, ready to take on the world market.
The MSME Forum offered the 50 African SMEs a unique chance to connect with key MSME stakeholders, foster connections with peers, and gain a deeper understanding of the EAN fellowship. The fellows will over the next 12 months benefit from bespoke capacity-building initiatives training, mentorship, and access to critical financial resources, designed to enhance their export readiness for global and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) markets.
“We’re Creating an Army of Entrepreneurs for the AfCFTA Market” – Ms Omar
Ms Ron Osman Omar, Ag. Director of Industry, Minerals, Entrepreneurship, and Tourism (IMET) Division at the AU Commission, said throughout the year-long EAN fellowship, the 50 fellows will receive mentorship and support from a host of renowned AU partner organizations, including the International Trade Center (ITC), African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and ImpactHER, among others.
Speaking on the uniqueness of the fellowship program, Ms Omar said the AU’s vision for the fellowship was for it to become part of its broader goals of promoting inclusive economic growth and sustainable development across the continent in alignment with its SMEs Development Strategy, through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework.
“We have launched the inaugural Enterprise African Network Fellowship with 50 young entrepreneurs from five key sectors — creative industries, ICT, agriculture, manufacturing, and minerals. Over the next 12 months, we will provide them with training, and mentorship, and connect them to partners who can help their businesses to grow and thrive,” she stated.
Ms Omar further said the businesses selected under the fellowship were already making significant impacts in areas such as sustainable agriculture, manufacturing, digital transformation, mineral resource value addition, and the creative industries. Hence, the EAN Fellowship now seeks to amplify their impacts and capacity to create more jobs by providing support across three core pillars: capacity building, mentorship, and access to financial institutions.
Ms Omar said the fellows will receive hands-on training in critical areas such as regulation, accreditation, certification, and brand development to help them take advantage of AfCFTA and global markets. “The AfCFTA market is here but many entrepreneurs are missing the necessary skills and tools to trade across borders. We are offering them a complete support package: from packaging and labeling to exposure and market access. We want to see them grow from micro-businesses reaching their countries’ local markets to reach continental and even global scale.”
The AU has great ambitions for the EAN Fellows: they are primed to transform their businesses into startups but ultimately into unicorns through individually tailored support. “By the end of the 12-month program, the hope is that these small businesses will be primed for export, standing as beacons of African entrepreneurship on the global stage. We will work with each entrepreneur supporting their unique requirements and ensuring they are ready to export to the AfCFTA market,” said Omar.
The AU says the selection process for the inaugural EAN Fellows was as competitive as its ambition for the fellowship: over 1,500 applications were received from across 44 African Union Member States, and 888 candidates were shortlisted out of which the final 50 fellows representing 30 African nationalities were chosen – based on the strength of their businesses, their growth potential, and their alignment with the fellowship program’s goals.
EAN Fellows Share Aspirations
The excitement among the fellows during the induction in Windhoek was palpable, with many expressing hope and confidence that the EAN Fellowship would be just the right stepping stone to not only take their businesses to the next level but possibly even become a unicorn. One such fellow is Meriyem Kokaina from Morocco, Founder of Sanu Africa Narrative, a media platform that tells unbiased stories about Africa.
“I’m really happy to be part of this fellowship which integrates businesses in the creative industries considering the challenge that creative businesses face in Africa. During the fellowship, I aim to create a strong business model for Sanu Africa Narrative, one that will ensure my media platform becomes visible and sustainable,” Kokena said.
The young media founder said being part of the fellowship offers visibility and networking opportunities as well as access to the big AU platform necessary to scale up her media startup’s coverage beyond her native Morocco to the continent. “Why not partner with strategic institutions that will allow my project to scale up as a continental initiative rather than a local one?” She asked.
Another fellow, Jennifer Eweonam, Founder of Dzordzoe Skincare based in Ghana, expressed similar sentiments. She is upbeat the fellowship’s tailor-made support will elevate her business to new heights. “This program is a platform to meet, learn, unlearn, and adapt new skills. One of the major challenges many entrepreneurs face is access to the right mentor, and this fellowship will ensure match-making of each entrepreneur with the right mentor,” Eweonam said.
Ms Eweonam’s vision of business growth is shared by EAN Fellow Philip Otuya, the Nigerian founder of Jubal Global Music Services, a digital platform dedicated to empowering and nurturing music and related creative talents, providing them with global exposure, upskilling, and relevant financial tools and opportunities. Otuya sees the Fellowship as a viable vehicle for taking his business beyond the shores of Nigeria.
“The fellowship will help take our startups to continental scale. Thanks to opportunities created by the AfCFTA, small businesses like mine will have the opportunity to export our services across the One African Market. The music industry is often overlooked, but it has the potential to be a key player in Africa’s integration and development. I am looking forward to championing Africa’s integration through digitizing African music.”
Brendaline Shieke is an EAN Fellow from Cameroon who founded Agripath Solutions, a crop and animal production as well as agric consulting firm. Shieke’s priority during the EAN Fellowship is to overcome challenges such as financing and market access and subsequently acquire the right types of machinery to boost her firm’s productive capacity and export to the AfCFTA market.
Similarly, Keith Nare from South Africa, Founder of Digging Deep, a mining services consultancy, sees the fellowship as an opportunity to expand his business across other regions of the continent. “This fellowship gives me touchpoints in different regions of Africa. We are looking at increasing our turnover four-fold and expanding our reach into new markets on the continent,” he noted.
EAN Fellowship: Looking out to the Future
As the inaugural cohort of the EAN Fellows begin their year-long journey, the challenge before the African Union and its partners is not only to help the SMEs inducted under the programme to transform their businesses but also sustain and scale up the fellowship. Indeed, 50 fellows is but a drop in the ocean but the AU’s plans to expand the fellowship beneficiaries and induct even more entrepreneurs could be a game-changer for Africa’s economic future.
Thanks to the EAN Fellowship, the AU is fostering a new generation of African entrepreneurs ready to compete on the global stage. Yet, the onus of making the EAN fellowship a success lies with the fellows who carry with them the hopes and aspirations of an entire continent. For the AU, “This is just the beginning, we aim to scale it up and support even more entrepreneurs across Africa,” Ms Omar assured.