ANDE organises 2022 West Africa Regional Conference in Accra

The Aspen Institute of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) has held its Annual West Africa Regional Conference under the theme 'Accelerating Small and Growing Business Growth in Africa' on July 19-20, 2022 at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra, Ghana.

The annual conference is a destination event for Enterprise Support Organizations, capacity-building agencies, accelerators, academic institutions, impact investors, and governments that propel entrepreneurship in developing economies and promotes networking for more robust entrepreneurial ecosystems in Africa.

The conference featured an interactive agenda with sessions focused on cross-cutting sector issues such as gender equality, climate and environmental action, employment, and economic growth with speakers including Kafui Bimpe, Group Head Business - Access Bank Ghana, Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, CEO - NEIP Ghana, Hamdiya Ismaila, Impact Investing Ghana Board Member/MD Venture Capital Trust Fund, Peter Bamkole - Enterprise Development Center of Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria with a keynote address delivered by Michael Mensah Baah, Deputy CEO of Development Bank of Ghana.

"ANDE is proud to announce the return of our in-person Annual West Africa Regional Conference to offer tangible opportunities to network, collaborate, and learn with some of Africa's foremost leaders, practitioners, and visionaries across Francophone and Anglophone West Africa. We are also excited to use the conference as a platform to launch the new ANDE report on how Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) has changed in response to COVID-19, with a spotlight on Africa", says ANDE Executive Director, Richenda Van Leeuwen.

Interactive activities included GIZ's Private Adaptation Investment Bootcamp exploring gaps between demand and supply side finance with fund managers, ANDE's gender-lens-focused digital platform co-designed by the MIT DLab and funded by USAID, and an exhibition featuring Agriculture and Tech ventures supported by the UN International Trade Center. In closing, FMO (Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank) and Impact Investing Ghana will co-host a Reception bringing together investors, entrepreneurs, local experts and intermediaries to highlight successful deals as well as encourage closer connections between the industry insiders in attendance at the Conference.




The ANDE West Africa Regional Conference was presented with strategic partner, Impact Investing Ghana and official sponsors including Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), German Development Agency (GIZ), Center for International Private Enterprise, Aspire Corporate Trust (ACT) Foundation and Platform for Agricultural Risk Management (PARM).
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About ANDE

The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) is a global network of organizations that propel entrepreneurship in developing economies. ANDE members provide critical financial, educational, and business support services to small and growing businesses (SGBs) based on the conviction that SGBs create jobs, stimulate long-term economic growth, and produce environmental and social benefits.

As the leading global voice of the SGB sector, ANDE believes that SGBs are a powerful, yet underleveraged tool in addressing social and environmental challenges. Since 2009, we have grown into a trusted network of nearly 300 collaborative members that operate in nearly every developing economy. ANDE grows the body of knowledge, mobilizes resources, and connects the institutions that support the small business entrepreneurs who build inclusive prosperity in the developing world.

ANDE is part of the Aspen Institute, a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society.

About Impact Investing Ghana

Impact Investing Ghana is a private-sector-led initiative that builds a thriving ecosystem for impact investing in Ghana. The organization represents the country on the Global Steering Group for Impact Investing (GSG), the successor to the Social Impact Investment Taskforce that was established by the G8.