Organisers of the Access to Finance and Entrepreneurship (AFIF) have declared that the 2015 award is officially opened to African-based entrepreneurs.

 While speaking on the award in a release made available to CEOAfrica,the project manager of EMRC, Inês Bastos, said: “This year we are boosting the award, by offering the chance to all those remarkable entrepreneurs based in Africa to submit their business project.

 We are facilitating their presence, which in turn will ensure that SMEs are strongly represented at the event.”

 AFIF 2015, entitled “Access to Finance and Entrepreneurship” is organised in collaboration with the European Investment Bank (EIB), DEG (German Development Finance Institution) and in partnership with Agri Academy, ECOWAS-TEN, Pfizer, Rabobank, BlueCloud, ICD (Islamic Corp. for the

Development of the Private Sector), IFC (World Bank) amongst others. The forum will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, from November 24 to 26, 2015.

 The winner of the 2014 edition, Magloire N’Dakon, enthused: “Participating in the award brought me visibility. A feat, which is rather exceptional, because I presented the project to an assembly filled with investors and business people who worked with and in Africa. I told myself I had to jump on this occasion in particular because I really believe in my project and I worked hard to make it what is today.”

 The award winner, an existing African small-medium business, will receive a US$5.000,00 cash prize, yearlong media promotion support in and out of Africa, free AFIF 2015 participation, including the Training Workshop, and travel expenses to the AFIF 2015 covered by EMRC.