Close the Gap, Agoria and The Shift organised an inspiring Digital for Development (D4D-BE) workshop

Posted on Jan 11, 2019 9:48 AM by

On Thursday, January 10, Close the Gap, Agoria and The Shift joined forces to organise a third Digital for Development (D4D-Be) event. The workshop focused on D4D-related financial instruments for private sector companies.

More than 80 participants were informed about three new financial instruments.

The first one was the new Business Partnership Facility "Enterprises for SDG's" managed by the King Baudouin Foundation, a new matching grant opportunity for partnerships with private sector.

Secondly, there was the FINEXPO SME instrument for Belgian small to medium entreprises exporting for the first time to developing/emerging countries to a public client.

A third instrument was the European External Investment Plan, which is expected to improve (with its integrated 3-pillar approach of "access to finance", "technical assistance" and "investment climate") the investment climate dynamics for European private sector willing to expand and invest in Africa.

After these presentations, Close the Gap's Communication Director Julie de Bergeyck gave the latest update on the D4D-platform (kindling.be) and its dynamics. This was followed by a networking lunch where participants could mingle with each other.

The last part of the event was an optional and informal round table where private sector actors were invited to exchange their views and perspectives on developing their businesses in Africa with representatives of European Union’s Directorate General of Development Cooperation.