SENEGAL – CANARIAS
Business ideas to solve common challenges to the Canary Islands and Africa
FIRST EDITION OF THE AFRICA CANARIAS CHALLENGE – 2021
To generate new changemakers working in teams to create a positive impact in their communities.
To co-create business models/social enterprises to address social challenges in Senegal and/or the Canary Islands related to the promotion of the post-covid economy.
What is the Africa Canarias Challenge program?
The Government of the Canary Islands wants to pursue new ways of internationalization in the framework of social economy and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with young people as the protagonists, and the integration of Canarian and African talent through business projects.
In this context, the General Directorate of Economic Relations with Africa, faced with the need to provide young people from the Canary Islands and Africa with tools and resources to start up companies with the capacity to generate opportunities, decided to create the Africa Canarias Challenge (ACC).
The ACC was therefore born in 2021 with the support of MTA Afrika, under the leadership of Diversity4Equality (Basque Country) and with the collaboration of different Canarian actors within the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. It is created with the vision of creating an intercultural community of entrepreneurs, focused on building up social impact business initiatives that promote inclusive development and help reduce disparities both in Africa and in the Canary Islands.
It is this common purpose of reducing inequality gaps what unites these African and Canarian entrepreneurs.
In this first edition, multicultural teams, made up of young people from Senegal and the Canary Islands, developed projects with the aim of solving social challenges and generating a positive impact on their communities by working on the post-covid economy. To do this, the selected participants participated in learning camps both in Dakar and Gandiol as well as in Gran Canaria and Tenerife during 2021.
Summary of the 2021 Edition
Outcomes
In addition to generating business ideas that offered solutions to common challenges to the Canary Islands and Africa, the program interconnected the Canarian and Basque entrepreneurial ecosystems, expanding the connection nodes between Canarian startups and triangulating their relationship with Africa.
Total participants
Working groups
Winning projects
Organization 2021 edition
Organizers:
- General Directorate of Economic Affairs with Africa of the Government of the Canary Islands: Sponsor and support.
- MTA Afrika S.Coop: Program coordination, methodology development and coaching.
- Diversity 4 Equality: Digital platform and comunity mangement.
- Hahatay: Program coordination in Senegal, coaching and methodological support.
Collaborators
- Bridge For Billions:Acceleration process for winning teams.
- Hahatay ONG: Senegalese participants coordination and Senegal bootcamp organization.
- Impact Hub Dakar: Coaching and Senegal bootcamp.
- MentorDay: Teams support and coaching.
- EMERGE: Methodology support, coaching.
The programme workflow:
- Selection Process – November 2020 to December 2020
- Digital development in the context of Senegal and the Canary Islands. January- March 2021
- 1st Bootcamp in Senegal – Abril 2021
- Distance work through digital platform – April to July 2021
- Acceleration process for 4 winning teams – September to December 2021
