The long-awaited event of the Accompagnateurs à la Création et au Développement des Entreprises was successfully held in Kinshasa this November 2024. Bringing together key players in the Congolese entrepreneurial ecosystem, this workshop was an opportunity to draw up a strategic roadmap for the coming year, focusing on the major challenges facing support professionals and entrepreneurs in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Under the leadership of Kipey Ezekiel, Managing Director and CEO of NACDE, the participants stressed the crucial importance of ensuring a unified and harmonized framework for the various support providers, whether they work as trainers, coaches, experts or legal advisors in the entrepreneurial field. Indeed, the profession of support provider, often underestimated, plays a pivotal role in the development of businesses and, by extension, in the national economy.
One of the major points of this workshop was the need to strengthen the skills of coaches and entrepreneurs to improve their resource management and promote the sustainable success of their businesses. Patience Baandenge, President of the Training and Coaching Commission at NACDE, stressed the importance of developing adapted training and workshops, while insisting on respecting the objectives set to guarantee the effectiveness of training programs.
At the heart of the discussions, the issue of industrialization and local production was also addressed. Participants shared concrete recommendations aimed at supporting entrepreneurial development in the DRC and meeting the Government’s expectations in terms of accreditation of entrepreneurs.
Eliane Munkeni, renowned speaker and second Vice-President of the Federation of Congolese Enterprises (FEC), highlighted the fundamental importance of support in the entrepreneurial process. Her network of coaches focused on training qualified coaches aims to prepare entrepreneurs to meet the multiple challenges related to business creation.
Through the professionalization of entrepreneurial support, the cohesion of efforts and the pooling of knowledge, the network of Business Creation and Development Coaches aims to offer more solid and relevant support. By joining forces, these key players will undeniably contribute to the sustainability of businesses and the success of entrepreneurial initiatives in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In short, this landmark workshop has made it possible to lay essential foundations for the future of entrepreneurship in the DRC. With a focus on training, harmonisation of practices and skills building, NACDE network members are preparing to successfully meet the challenges ahead and meet the growing expectations of donors and partners.