One of the objectives included in the Finland Africa Strategy is to strengthen Business relations between Finland and African countries. With different Ministries tasked with creating action plans to achieve this objective, the question of how to concretely involve and engage the African diaspora in Finland so that they act as connectors between the countries of origin and Finland remains unanswered. 

This event pushes the boundary beyond just discussions and results in a concrete strategy for diaspora engagement in the Finland-Africa Strategy. It builds on the previous two Lean In events which have brought different players in the Nordic-Africa relations for sharing best practices and networking.

Hosted with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Finnpartnership, Business Finland, and Remode

Program

  • 10:00 Welcome and introductions
  • 10:25 Ministry for Foreign Affairs: Finnish-Africa Strategy Action Plan + Q&A
  • 10:45 Finnpartnership: Business Partnership Support & Somalia Project + Q&A
  • 11:05 Presentation by the Diaspora + Q&A
  • 11:15 Lunch at the venue
  • 12:05 Business Finland: Developing Markets Platform + Q&A
  • 12:25 Workshop on shared goals, engagement, activity and next steps together
  • 13:45 Summary of workshop and next steps
  • 14:00 Program Ends

Expected outcome:

  • Identify the concrete ways how businesses are being built between Finland and African countries, both by the diaspora and by MFA.
  • Creation of an engagement strategy/road map with identified diaspora groups and communities so that they act as true business connectors between the countries of origin and the countries of residence as part of the MFA action plan
  • Formation of a working group(s) based on identified interests and goals to be part of the implementation of the action plan

Target audience:

Diaspora individuals connecting Finnish and African businesses, Decision makers in the different ministries and funding organisations, members of different diaspora groups and communities, Finnish private companies interested in the African market.

Event will also be recorded and shared to our Facebook page @ThinkAfricaorg.

Follow the Facebook page for updates!

NOTE:
To access Think Africa Week 2021 in person, you are required to present an EU Digital Covid Certificate (EUDCC) or a valid vaccination, recovery, or negative test result.