| EUROCHAMBRES demands greater focus on SMEs and entrepreneurship in Joint EU-Africa Strategy |
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29/09/2009 13:20 (345 Day 02:34 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- Greater focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship should be at the heart of the Joint EU-Africa Strategy, concluded the working group led by EUROCHAMBRES during the EU-Africa Business Forum in Nairobi (Kenya) today.
This can be achieved through the development of an “African Charter for SMEs and Entrepreneurship”, implying specific national measures and regulatory reforms to improve business conditions. There is also the need to strengthen the role of intermediary organisations in Africa in cooperation with their European counterparts.
These two recommendations will be submitted to the African Union Heads of State summit in January 2010.
”There is a general view from the African and European private sector, on the need to work for close cooperation and to put SMEs high on EU Africa agenda,” said Ben Butters, Director of European Affairs at EUROCHAMBRES. “We feel that this is currently lacking from the Joint EU Africa Strategy.”
EUROCHAMBRES and the EU-Africa Business Forum
The EU-Africa Business Forum is an integral part of the Joint EU-Africa Strategy. It aims to play a key role in bringing together entrepreneurs, public and private investors from both Europe and Africa in order to discuss ways of improving the investment and business climate and to raise the profile of doing business in Africa. The European Commission and the African Union Commission support the Forum.
EUROCHAMBRES is a permanent member of the Forum and co-chairs together with the Permanent Conference of African and French-Speaking Consular Chambers (CPCCAF), the Working group on SMEs and Entrepreneurship.
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