BIC Ethiopia aims to address bottlenecks in the Ethiopian start-up ecosystem. To this end, the project works with selected existing and newly established incubators and supports them to develop sustainable and technically sound business models. Regional benchmarking, best practice examples, standardised curricula, professionalisation of operations and the development of new revenue models are part of the cooperation. The incubators are thus enabled to better support start-ups and MSMEs in the field of agricultural technology and agribusiness in order to improve market access, generate higher incomes and create jobs.
The training programme is followed by practical implementation. The best of the participating incubators will be commissioned to implement a pre-incubation programme for 600 start-ups as part of the Projekt. This will be followed at a later stage by an incubation programme for 160 newly founded MSMEs. The project will work with private financing institutions such as banks and investors to promote unconventional thinking and create new financial access opportunities for MSMEs.
The EU-funded project is implemented by sequa in cooperation with five highly committed partner organisations. The Addis Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations will leverage its reach of 50,000 SME members and its experience in shaping national policy in favour of the private sector. adelphi gGmBH and GrowthAfrica will contribute their extensive experience in developing curricula for start-ups and entrepreneurs, capacity building in incubators and acceleration programmes, as well as strategies for access to finance. IceHawassa, a national grassroots innovation centre, and the Ethiopia-focused foundation People for People (MfM) will establish, expand and manage incubation centres in the southern and northern regions.
BIC Ethiopia will also work with the Ethiopian Association of Start-up Ecosystem (EASE), which is currently being established by private, academic and non-profit incubators to serve as a network and discussion forum for incubation centres, and with the regional network BIC Africa.
