Conference Programme

This the programme of the EU-African SME Summit 2020.

Rome, March 30, 2020

Africa – a continent of opportunities for SMEs… and how to make them happen!

Draft version

Venue: tbd

Entrance formalities, registration of the participants and welcome coffee
09:00 h
Welcoming
09:30 h
Welcoming by Mr. Maurizio Casasco, First Vice-President of European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME and President of CONFAPI (I)
Opening Impulses
09:45 h
Opening Impulses:

Mr. Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of the Italy

Mr. Luigi Di Maio, Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs

Mrs. Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, South-African Minister of Small Business Development

Mr. Mario Ohoven – President of European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME and of Der Mittelstand/BVMW (D), First Vice-president of INSME

Mr. Albert M. Muchanga, African Union Commissioner for Industry and Trade (tbc)

Mr. Koen Doens, Director General of the European Union Directorate General for
Development and Cooperation (tbc)
Mr. Youssouf Moussa Dawaleh, President of the Pan-African Chamber of Commerce
and Industry

Coffee break
11:30 h
The importance of direct exchange among entrepreneurs of the two continents
11:45 h
Mr. Jean-Claude Tchatchouang, Executive Director of the World Bank (tbc)
The new African Continental Free Trade Agreement AfCFTA - a market of 53 states and 1.2 billion people
12:00 h
Mr. Kebour Ghenna, Executive Director of the Pan-African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PACCI)
The EU’s role in guaranteeing together with the AU peace and security in Africa.
12:15 h
Rear Admiral Jürgen Ehle, Senior Military Advisor to the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Managing Director of CSDP and Crisis Response, European External Action Service (EEAS)
Pitch the opportunities: success stories of doing business in Africa
12:30 h
6 Entrepreneurs from Europe and Africa pitch their successful business projects in Africa.

Moderater: Prof. Sergio Arzeni, President of INSME

Lunch break
13:30 h
The Italian-African SME Alliance: Signature of the Memorandum of Understanding between CONFAPI, PACCI and …
14:30 h
Introducing: Ms. Annalisa Guidotti, Director Public Affairs and PR of CONFAPI
Make it happen: share and compare the best roads to Africa for SMEs
15:00 h
What can the EU, the AU, the Development Cooperation Agencies, the Financial Institutions and the Business Support Organisations do to support entrepreneurs that want to invest in Africa?

Moderator: Mr. Stefan Moritz, Managing Director of European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME

Discussion with the participants
16:30 h
Closing remarks by
16:50 h
Prof. Horst Fischer, Univ. of Leiden and Univ. of Columbia
Networking lounge (with video statements corner)
17:00 h
End of the EU-African SME Conference 2020
18:00 h
Working language is English. We will offer simultaneous interpretation for Italian, French and German.

Program of Tuesday, March 31st

Draft version

B2B Marketplace of for business opportunities in Africa, organisation through the Matchmaking Platform “European and African Entrepreneurs”, venue tbd
09:00 h
Common Farewell lunch
13:00 h
End of the 2020 edition of the EU-African SME Summit
15:00 h