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BAHRAIN is to help African
countries create new businesses and jobs by teaching
entrepreneurs how to start up on their own.
The Bahrain Model of Enterprise Development is to be
used as a blueprint in several African countries.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido)
Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO),
Bahrain, is organising a high level meeting on Sunday to
finalise the project.
The meeting, in Bahrain, will be headed by Unido
director-general Dr Kandeh Yumkella and attended by
three African ministers, said Unido-ITPO Bahrain head Dr
Hashim Hussein.
"It will finalise the transferring of the Bahrain Model
of Investment Promotion and Enterprise Development
Programme to Africa, with the funding of the Arab Gulf
Programme for United Nations Development Organisations (Agfund),"
he told the GDN.
Industry and Commerce Ministers of Sierra Leone, Guinea
and Liberia will attend the meeting, along with high
ranking officials from the Islamic Development Bank,
Agfund and Emaar Industries and Investment.
"This is the first time that the Arab Gulf countries are
moving to Africa on an enterprise development mission,"
said Dr Hussein.
The Bahrain Model is being implemented by Unido through
its Arab Regional Centre for Entrepreneurship and
Investment Training (Arceit) with the support of the
Bahrain Business Incubator Centre and the Bahrain
Development Bank and Agfund.
The
Bahrain Model is a full package approach aimed at
assisting potential entrepreneurs to implement their
ideas into successful sustainable businesses.The model consists of four steps: collective capacity building, business counselling and technology tie-up leading to joint venture collaborations, financial linkages and finally Incubation which takes two forms either in-wall or out-wall (virtual).
Arceit Bahrain has already institutionalised the Bahrain Model in various countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Jordan and Uruguay, besides Bahrain.
Concrete steps have already been taken for Lebanon, China, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia, said Dr Hussein.