By Nasratu Kargbo
The Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) has launched the Ecosystem Entrepreneurship programme aimed at fostering coordination and promotion of activities by local entrepreneurs in the country. The event which was hosted in Freetown saw development experts within and out of the country, exchange ideas on how local entrepreneurs can partner with international businesses to improve the sector.
Delivering the keynote address, the Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr Francis Kai Kai said the need for mapping is very important, and that the government as a whole recognizes the need for national entrepreneurship and digital tools in its planning of the development management process.
He stated that the exercise will enable the government, his ministry and development partners of Sierra Leone, to engage in planning that will be informed by credible data, setting baselines for performance indicators and targets. “In the ongoing review of our medium-term national development plan for example the need for this ecosystem mapping is a compelling case”, the minister noted.
He said there is a need for monitoring and evaluation of the country’s economic development that will inform their progress, reviews and lessons learnt during the implementation of national intervention especially in the private sector where he believed a lot of information is needed. He stated that the tool is going to provide credible evidence and tangible information on the challenges and progress in the business sector, especially in the private sector.
The Minister noted that the exercise will form coordination of the economic development which will guide and assist in minimizing duplication of efforts, more concentration and underrepresentation.
He explained that there will be so many opportunities such as exposure of local actors to the national and international stage, promotion of local entrepreneurs, creating networking opportunities with potential global investors and possibilities for partnerships.
He stressed the need for an entrepreneurial ecosystem mapping that will provide numerous opportunities in pursuit of sustainable national development that is informed by credible data and technologically and innovatively driven.
Joy Jegede who made a presentation on behalf of DSTI stated that they had different categories of entities when they started the research including Small Medium Enterprises and Tech businesses, saying they wanted to get different perspectives and responses.
The Director of DSTI Michala Mackay said that the launched system is a network for all entrepreneurs and that the platform will serve as a repository of all data for entrepreneurs in Sierra Leone. She explained that the mapping exercise was very critical for DSTI and the whole country because it was essential to know where the entrepreneurs are, the regions where they operate, what kind of data they can provide and how the data can be used by innovators to solve problems, not just within communities but the country as a whole.
“Soon entrepreneurs will have space, where they can co-learn, co-work, and co- solve the problems that they face not just to get sustainability for their businesses, but to see how they can grow the ecosystem and making livelihood and lives better,” she said. She said the tool will be available to all and sundry and that it will be creating a lot of opportunities for training and capacity building for all.
The Ecosystem Manager, Mahmoud Javombo explained to Politico how DSTI has interacted with over 700 entrepreneurs across the country using the data from Sierra Leone Medium Enterprise Development Agency and the Corporate Affairs Commission, especially those that applied for the “Munafa Fund”, to interact with the entrepreneurs.
On the Ecosystem Tec Entrepreneurship Launch, he said one of the things that DSTI has promised to do is to support efforts to make Sierra Leone an innovative and entrepreneurship nation. Javombo explained that DSTI has for the past two years been taking a clear stock of what presently exists in terms of challenges in science, technology and innovation, and the opportunities available.
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