Guinea Bissau – Idea Program

IDEA Program Guinea Bissau

Advancing agribusiness while creating jobs in the regions that need it most

As one of the activities of the West Africa Competitive Programme (WACOMP) multi-year project, IDEA Program Guinea Bissau provides incubation training and mentorship to 60 entrepreneurs from the country to build solid and resilient agribusinesses.

Funded by

Value chains impacted

Mango

Cashew nuts

Fishing

Agroforestry

The economy in Guinea Bissau is mainly agricultural, with good prospects for forestry and fishery development. The export of commercial items such as cashews, palm products, rice, peanuts, timber, and cotton has long played an essential role in the country’s economy. Large portions of land are not yet cultivated because of both the traditional crop rotation practice of slash-and-burn agriculture and a lack of agricultural credit and investment due to the political and military conditions.

IDEA Program supports entrepreneurs from Guinea Bissau to turn this around by creating innovative solutions that can boost, protect or scale the most relevant value chains in the country while generating new decent job opportunities.

How does the model work?

UNIDO set three IDEA Centers as implementation partners and undergo a “Training of Trainers” program to build their entrepreneurship program management and incubation capacity. The training consisted of 6 sessions covering topics from creating a mentors network to mastering the IDEA platform to facilitating best practices.

Bridge for Billions co-manages the entrepreneurship program with the three IDEA Centers in Guinea Bissau: Agência Nacional do Empreendedorismo Juvenil (ANEJ), Innovalab and Ajuda de Desenvolvimento de Povo para Povo (ADPP)

All program partners select altogether 60 entrepreneurs from Guinea Bissau and over 80 local and international mentors to participate in the IDEA Program. All of them are trained and onboarded during Kickoff Day.

As part of the program, all founders access structured guidance in 8 business tools, constant support from the incubation management team, personalized weekly mentorship, and a global community of founders, workshops, and sectorial resources. Internet and tablets are provided to the IDEA Centers by UNIDO to ensure all participants have the necessary tools to undergo the training.

Agência Nacional do Empreendedorismo Juvenil (ANEJ), Innovalab and Ajuda de Desenvolvimento de Povo para Povo (ADPP) provide local support and knowledge to the founders, additional in-person workshops and resources, and physical space for founders to work from.

Entrepreneurs work in teams to develop their businesses while working weekly with volunteer mentors through the IDEA platform. The five best and most impactful projects will receive up to €5,000 in funding.

Impact goals in Guinea Bissau

entrepreneurs were accepted into the program

43 enterprises will still be active 1 year after the program has ended

175 jobs will have been created two years after the program has ended

84 mentors were accepted into the program

3 IDEA Centers trained

Entrepreneurship support everywhere

Entrepreneurship opportunities for all

Sectors of the entrepreneurs

Age of the entrepreneurs

Some of the entrepreneurs and mentors from IDEA ProgramGuinea Bissau

Entrepreneurs

Agro Mindset

Agro Mindset helps farmers to run highly profitable agribusinesses and showcase this know-how to young aspiring farmers.

Founded by

David Asiamah

Goodness Green

Goodness Green is on a mission to address food shortages and excessive importation in Africa by accelerating vegetable production through Hydroponics.

Founded by

Fatoumata Fall

Massira

Massira is increasing women’s access to credible health information and related services (sexual, reproductive and mental health) through a safe community that fosters open dialogue and is committed to educating, connecting and empowering women to improve health outcomes in Africa.

Founded by

Ada Tapily

Shap Shap

A multimodal delivery marketplace that connects drivers with vendors and customers to meet all delivery & payment needs. It also comes with software as a service option.

Founded by

Khalil Halilu

Mentors

João Banjaqui

Guinea-Bissau

Co-Founder of the CENTRO DE INCUBAÇÃO E DESENVOLVIMENTO EMPRESARIAL / Activist / Entrepreneur.

Motivation: ”I want to be a mentor for two reasons: the first is to share my experience with others; the second is to learn new techniques and skills from the network I will be involved in.”

Ansu Mancal

Guinea-Bissau

Professor at the Institute for Research and Continuing Education in Economics and Business Management – I-PECEGE

Motivation: “It is a strong desire of mine to be part of supporting developing economies, particularly those in Africa, and I think private sector development is the way to that realization. Entrepreneurs play a key role in making this happen and I will have a great contribution in helping them develop since I’m also an entrepreneur myself.

Elsa Simoes

Cabo Verde

Deputy Permanent Representative of Cabo Verde to FAO, IFAD and WFP

Motivation: “It would motivate me to be able, with my experience gained throughout my professional life, to help people who want to develop a productive project. I am motivated by the idea of contributing to people’s well-being and to the elimination of poverty.”

Maria Mendes

Guinea-Bissau

Senior freelance Consultant and Communications expert

Motivation: “I have the mentality that there is always room for improvement and I think entrepreneurs in the region could particularly benefit from expertise in branding and product presentation. I also want to explore the markets of the region.”

With the support of

UNIDO and Bridge for BIllions designed each entrepreneurship program taking into account the most critical value chains for each country, and found entrepreneurs working on the fundamental challenges for the sector with the support of local incubators.

Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Agência Nacional do Empreendedorismo Juvenil (ANEJ)

Program Administrator

Lelito Quadé

Government Agency that aims to promote the creation and quality of youth employment through active employment policies, professional training, and entrepreneurship.

Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Innovalab

Program Administrator

Adulai Bary

InnovaLab is an NGO that strives to foster entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem development and create social impact by supporting venture creation and entrepreneurship in education, agriculture, healthcare, and infrastructure.

Bissorã, Guinea-Bissau

Ajuda de Desenvolvimento de Povo para Povo (ADPP)

Program Administrator

Euclides Gomes

ADPP Guiné-Bissau is a national organization operating in the country since 1981 with interventions focused on rural areas, the most vulnerable and those most affected.

Other partners IDEA Program

We are looking for partners!

IDEA Program Guinea Bissau is on the lookout for public and private institutional partners and donors to make the program sustainable and amplify its impact over the next few years. Send us an email and make a difference in developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem of your country or region.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) partnered with Bridge for Billions to create IDEA, an online program to connect young entrepreneurs with mentors from all over the world to accelerate the growth of new entrepreneurship communities and foster an entrepreneurial culture.