Misgana Amelga is developing innovative SME financing strategies for Africa through Funding Innovation and Socially Conscious Entrepreneurship through Partnership with the African Diaspora
Misgana Amelga
Misgana Amelga is the Program Director for PID. She specializes in the area of a social assessment particularly in the context of poverty reduction/microfinance focused projects. She has provided support to projects seeking to integrate participatory/ stakeholder analysis approaches in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of poverty reduction and microfinance projects for UNDP, UNESCO, UNIFEM and the African Development Bank.
Ms. Amelga has also undertaken research for the World Bank related to the use of qualitative research in understanding and addressing the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. In addition, she has been responsible for the design and implementation of a technology transfer and business linkage program for Rwanda involving the African Diaspora for UNIFEM. Currently she oversees the Partners for Africa Program (PFA) supported by the W.K. Kellogg foundation.
About the Project
The project idea is that given that one key strategy in addressing poverty alleviation in Africa, and the developing world for that matter, is the funding of innovation to develop creative solutions to the many development challenges facing Africa many of which are directly related to poverty. This project idea can be viewed as promoting and supporting “social entrepreneurship” which is getting more attention in the developed and developing world at this time. Our target group is primarily unemployed but college educated youth with education/training in information technology.
PID is proposing a program of funding social entrepreneurship in Africa (Ethiopia being the first pilot country) with a focus on technology-based initiatives. Given the importance of technology in this era of globalization and the significant digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world.
One key aspect of our strategy is to partner with the educated and the entrepreneurial African Diaspora. The Diaspora of many developing countries can play important roles in their respective countries over and beyond the large amount of remittances they send home annually. For example, in the case of China, the impact of the Diaspora has been dramatic. Almost half of the investment that flows into China is from its Diaspora. This is not just financing but know- how, entrepreneurship, and human capital.
In the case of the Ethiopian Diaspora. We intend to involve them as mentors to our targeted entrepreneurs (particularly those with information technology skills) and in the future also as potential investors of our targeted entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs create products, services and jobs. They expand economies, improve people's lives, provide employment (high and rising wages) and bring about competition. A competitive environment, in turn, gives rise to efficiency, meritocracy and further innovations and entrepreneurial drive.
The potent combination of entrepreneurship and technological innovation can forge an environment that is conducive to further enterprise, involving even government policy in supporting entrepreneurship and innovation.
