INDIAFRICA Collaborative Workshop

April 4-5, 2013 
India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

Workshop DAY 1

The first INDIAFRICA COLLABORATIVE WORKSHOP was held on April 04 and 05, in New Delhi at the Young India Fellowship Campus and India Habitat Centre. The workshop was primarily aimed at identifying problem/ opportunity areas and harvesting ideas for business/social ventures, for developing product or service systems through combined efforts of Indians and Africans. An interesting mix of participants was brought together by inviting applications from students from multiple disciplines.

On Day One, the 36 Indians and 32 Africans from across Delhi Campuses and a 7 member team from Amity University, were divided into 9 groups; each focusing on challenges common to India and Africa in the areas of education, energy, healthcare, creative industry, cultural industry, environment, food and nutrition, governance and tourism. African countries represented were Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Somalia, Malawi and Gabon.

Each group had one entrepreneur from the group of 12 INDIAFRICA Young Visionaries as an advisor. With participants from diverse geographies and disciplines ranging from design, law, international relations, public health and engineering, the workshop - expertly conducted by Ramneek Majithia achieved its first objective very well - it gave African students in India, a platform for uninhibited exchange of ideas and views with their Indian peers. During the day, the group was addressed by experts from industry and academia.

Workshop DAY 2

On Day Two at India Habitat Centre, each of the nine teams formed on Day One made 10 minute presentations before a panel of experts from different fields and were given valuable feedback to help them refine their ideas. Each of these teams will now be mentored over the coming six months by CII Young Indians and theIdeaWorks. Those teams which successfully develop their ideas into complete business plans will be given an opportunity to make an “investment pitch” before angel investors and development finance institutions in the last quarter of 2013.

Day Two closed with the Valedictory of the 1st INDIAFRICA Young Visionaries Fellowship, attended by Heads of Mission of African, European and Latin American countries. Six young African and Indian entrepreneurs selected for the 12 individual fellowships with a grant of USD 10000 each had attended a six day Boot Camp at ISB, Hyderabad last month to develop collaborative business ideas. Kenya-India and Tanzania-India teams made presentations on their new business ventures that should make a huge impact on SME level co-operation and value added mobile telephony at the bottom of the pyramid across Africa and India.

JURY MEMBERS

Sanjoy Roy
Founder
Jaipur Literature Festival

Amit Gulati
Founder
Incubis Design

Dr Subho Ray
President
Internet & Mobile Association of India

Dr Amit Kapoor
Honourary Chairman
Institute for Competitivenes (India)

Dr Simona Vittorini
Teaching Fellow
School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS)

Bhairavi Jani
Director, SCA Group &
Past National Chairperson
CII Young Indians

Pragnya Seth
Associate Dean
Young India Fellowship

H E Jonathan Wutawunashe, Ambassador of Zimbabwe to India & Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in India

Manoj Kohli, Managing Director & CEO (International), Bharti Airtel Limited

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Guest, His Excellency Jonathan Wutawunashe, Ambassador of Zimbabwe and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps praised the INDIAFRICA programme, “Such initiatives are doing invaluably good work in raising awareness about each other, because ignorance and prejudices inherited from colonial times have been a major reason why few Indian businesses ventured into Africa earlier”. Manoj Kohli, Managing Director and CEO (International) of Bharti Airtel Limited, one of the biggest corporate investors in Africa delivered a keynote on “How Africa and India should mould their youth into job creators rather than job seekers”. Speaking on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs, Riva Ganguly Das, Joint Secretary, Public Diplomacy Division said, “INDIAFRICA has emerged as a platform for the young from both regions to engage with each other and unleash their creative energies.”

Amit Shahi, CEO & Co-founder of theIdeaWorks shared the progress made by INDIAFRICA, since its launch in July 2011 and unveiled ambitious future plans. He stressed that adding scale and substance to the programme required greater support from the Indian as well as African corporate sectors. For 68 young minds from 12 African countries and India, who attended the two-day workshop, it marked a new chapter in the quest to compete, collaborate and co-create a shared future.

INDIAFRICA: A Shared Future, is a unique people to people and youth outreach programme that uses contests, fellowships, collaborative projects, internships, events and cultural exchanges as platforms to bring the young people of India and Africa closer. Designed and managed by IdeaWorks Design & Strategy Pvt Ltd, the initiative is supported by the Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt of India.