Business Model Canvas Boostcamps

Since 2020, ICHEC has been collaborating with ASBL OVO as part of the Sustainable Technology For Africa (ST4A) program.
This program set up by OVO aims to:
- Facilitate economic initiatives in low- and middle-income countries.
- Connect Belgian entrepreneurs and companies with these emerging economic initiatives.
- Encourage the sharing of knowledge and expertise through its network of experts in business management and technical support.
- Facilitate financing opportunities in the form of social loans.
- Support the training of young students in entrepreneurship in Senegal and Belgium.

Context

Foreign initiatives abound in Africa. Structures are present on the continent to support local entrepreneurial development. They use tools, provide training, offer coaching, set up networks, etc.
But is what they offer adapted to different contexts? Should co-creation or co-production be the words that underpin a new way of thinking? Is a dialogue based on listening and analyzing opposition still possible?
Just as the company must continually adapt to its environment, so must the development of contextualized knowledge. The aim is to better understand how new imaginaries can emerge from the deconstruction of universal, non-contextualized knowledge.

Needs addressed

Despite cultural differences, a number of studies question Western management as a reference model. The authors agree on the need to renew management science research in Africa, to move forward step by step, and to take advantage of the accumulation of experience to minimize the risk of failure and optimize sustainable general commitment. It will also be useful to explore how other emerging or deviant practices enable the production of innovative, context-appropriate imaginaries.

Expected results

The tool is not an end in itself, but helps to position oneself in the role of foreign trainer. As the researcher is himself an actor, the auto-ethnographic methodology was chosen to focus on feedback from entrepreneurs, coaches and experts, as well as the researcher's own feelings. The training program evolves with each new edition, taking into account previous feedbacks.

The aim is to unfold the fabric of two ecosystems in Benin and Senegal to study alternative forms of collective and supportive support. Then, to understand how these entrepreneurial practices enable the emergence of a new imaginary and how stakeholders can organize themselves to bring this new imaginary to life in the field.

Financing

OVO ; Enabel

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