The Social & Inclusive Business Camp is an acceleration and capacity building programme dedicated to entrepreneurs with an impact project on the African continent and with a desire to scale up.
It is a hybrid support programme, including:
- 4 months of remote coaching on a dedicated online platform, alternating interactive virtual classes with international experts and learning resources to consult autonomously.
- 1 week of intensive Bootcamp in Marseille, France, in partnership with the EMERGING Valley Summit (event dedicated to emerging innovations between Europe and Africa)
- The possibility for each participant to be followed by a mentor, an experienced alumni of the programme
- Networking, through integration into an active and ambitious international community of 200 entrepreneurs and networking with investors and financial partners during the Bootcamp.
Since its first edition in 2017, the SIBC has supported 200 entrepreneurs with a strong social impact in Africa in their transition to scale-up, in the measurement of their social performance and in their preparation for fundraising.
The programme is organised around 4 key themes
- Leadership, governance and team: defining better your purpose and mission, structuring your governance, and organizing your teams for successful growth
- Scale up : Adapting your business model and building your scale-up strategy to multiply your impact
- ESG & Impact : defining your ESG & Impact policy and measuring your social performance
- Investment Readiness : identifying your financing needs, understanding investor expectations, and preparing to raise funds
Eligibility criteria: who can apply?
To apply, the company must meet all these criteria:
- Be a legally registered company
- Prove a positive impact in Africa: social or environmental impact, activity serving vulnerable populations (women, people with disabilities, refugees...) and/or creating jobs for these populations
- Prove that you have first customers, a turnover and a balanced economic model or a medium-term profitability objective
- Have a desire to grow and present a scale-up strategy that takes into account the maximisation of social or environmental impact
The candidate representing the company, referred to here as the “applicant" or “the candidate”, must be the founder, co-founder, manager or at least in a position to make strategic decisions for the company.
The following will not be eligible:
- Individual applications
- NGOs without a business model or profitability objective
- Public and semi-public organisations
- Companies at the project stage (without first revenues, prototype or proof of concept)
Timeline
- May 21th - July 3rd 2021: submission of applications
- July 19th 2021: examination of the applications and selection of the 40 participants chosen by the consortium and selection committee
- End of July: announcement of the selected candidates.
- End of August 2021: start of the programme and distance learning
- Early December 2021: Intensive one-week bootcamp in Marseille and participation in the EMERGING Valley Summit
This planning is indicative and may be subject to change, particularly as the COVID-19 health crisis develops.
Application process
The application file must be completed on this platform and is composed of :
- An application form to be completed (questions on the project leader, the company, its structure, its impact and its strategy for scaling up)
- Proof of the legal registration of the company (registration document, articles of association, etc.)
- Financial statements for the last 3 years
- Detailed CV of the project leader
- If you wish, a pitch-deck or a presentation of your company (optional)
Prerequisites to participate in the programme:
- The candidate representing the company, called "the applicant" or “the candidate”, must be the founder, co-founder, manager or at least in a position to make strategic decisions for the company;
- The applicant must ensure that he/she has sufficiently stable internet access to be able to follow the training and exchange sessions in good conditions;
- The candidate will have to be able to allocate time to the programme from September to the beginning of December 2021, at a rate of approximately 2 hours per week over this period
The operators of the programme:
After having developed the SIBC for three years, the AFD Development Campus has decided to rely on a consortium composed of I&P Conseil, African Management Institute (AMI), ScaleChanger and StartupBRICS for the implementation of the program. With a strong pedagogical team and an in-depth knowledge of African entrepreneurship, the consortium will carry the values of the SIBC to support entrepreneurs but also to raise awareness of the dynamics of an ecosystem that is now essential for the continent's development.
Implemented by a consortium coordinated by Investisseurs & Partenaires
With the financial support of the Coopération monégasque au développement
Rules and regulations - Call for applications Social & Inclusive Business Camp - Edition 2021
Article 1 – Presentation of the program
Created in 2017 by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Social & Inclusive Business Camp (SIBC) brings together and supports entrepreneurs with a positive impact in Africa (social, environmental, inclusion...) in their scale-up. More than just a training course, the SIBC brings together an active and dynamic community of entrepreneurs who are agents of change, and thus promotes networking, collective intelligence and peer-to-peer sharing.
All information about the Social & Inclusive Business Camp is available on the website www.socialbusinesscamp.fr
To submit their application, candidates must complete and validate before July 3, 2021 (CET time - France) an electronic form accessible via this link.
Article 2 – Purpose of the call for applications
The purpose of the call for applications is to select the entrepreneurs who will form the cohort participating in the programme in 2021.
The selection is entrusted to:
I&P Conseil, RCS Paris 832 255 095. Address: 9 rue Notre-Dame des Victoires, 75002 Paris, France.
The aim of the competition is to:
Identify entrepreneurs producing social or environmental impacts in Africa who have started to scale up;
Supporting these entrepreneurs in their development, through a training course on scaling up, fundraising and impact measurement
Network the selected entrepreneurs with the SIBC community of previous editions, but also with mentors, experts and investors during the various virtual classes and final Bootcamp
This programme is intended for all entrepreneurs responding to the following criteria:
Whose structure is legally registered;
Proof of turnover and first clients;
Proof of a balanced economic model or a medium-term profitability objective;
Proof of a positive impact in Africa;
Demonstrating a willingness to scale up and a strategy that integrates the maximisation of positive impacts
The following are not eligible for the programme:
Individual applications
Associations that do not have a business model or profitability objective
Public and semi-public bodies.
Companies at the project stage (without first revenues, prototype or proof of concept)
The right of access to the call for applications is free of charge.
Article 3 – Timeline
May 21th - July 3rd 2021: submission of applications
July 19th 2021: examination of the applications and selection of the 40 participants chosen by the consortium and selection committee
End of July: announcement of the selected candidates.
End of August 2021: start of the programme and distance learning
Early December 2021: Intensive one-week bootcamp in Marseille and participation in the EMERGING Valley Summit
We recommend that candidates ensure that they will be available early December for the boot camp in Marseille and that they will be able to travel to France.
In any case, the schedule is subject to change by the program organizers in case of major events or events beyond the control of the organizers. In this case, these changes will be made known to the public and to the applicants on the call for applications platform, or to the selected participants if the event occurs after the closure of the call for applications.
Article 4 - Terms of participation
Only natural persons can participate in the Social & Inclusive Business Camp.
Applicants, also referred to as "project leaders" or “applicants”, represent their company and must be founders, co-founders, managers or at least in a position to take strategic decisions for the company.
Applicants for the call for applications must meet the eligibility criteria and obligations set out in the present rules and regulations.
Article 5 - Selection process
To participate in the program, the applicant must :
Complete the application form with questions about the project leader, the company, the company structure, the project, its impact and its scaling strategy.
Tick the box relating to his or her commitment to actively participate in the entire programme.
Provide evidence of legal registration of the company.
Provide the company's financial statements for the last three years.
Provide the detailed CV of the project leader.
Applications completed by applicants to the programme as well as the deliberations of the juries are confidential. Persons having to know the contents of the applications are bound by the strictest professional secrecy.
The organisers have the right to refuse incomplete applications.
The organisers and juries associated with the programme cannot be held legally responsible for the protection of ideas, patents, files, models or trademarks invented by the candidates.
Applications are processed as follows:
A first screening of the applications by the organizers to select eligible applications for the program and reject non-compliant applications.
In a second step, the applications are reviewed and scored according to pre-established criteria by the programme organisers and the invited juries.
Eligible and scored applications are presented to a selection committee that validates the final cohort. The selection committee is led by the Agence Française de Développement, which chooses its members from among the programme's partners.
The organisers reserve the right to contact applicants whose applications are not clear enough to provide further details.
The indicative criteria for the evaluation of applications are as follows (non-exhaustive list) :
Maturity of the structure and management capacity
Innovative nature of the proposed solution
Potential of the business model and strategy for scaling up
Social impact and contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals
Profile(s) of the project leader(s)
Relevance of the programme to the expectations and needs of the organisation
Article 6 - Applications
The application form is available on the website https://www.socialbusinesscamp.com , from May 21th to July 3rd 2021.
Applications must be completed online from May 21th to midnight (Paris time) to July 3rd 2021 on the call for applications platform.
Once the account has been created, you can log back into your file at any time until final validation. Only complete applications are taken into account.
Applications must be fully completed. They must include all the requested documents (proof of legal registration, financial statements for the last three years, detailed CV of the project leader). Any incomplete file is rejected and consequently not validated. The files will be forwarded to the members of the jury. Please be careful with your spelling.
Eligible applications will be compiled in a file that will be presented to the selection committee, which will choose the final cohort. In order to ensure maximum objectivity on the grades attributed to the candidates, the files are evaluated by at least 2 members of the SIBC, before pooling the grades.
Article 7 – Selection Committee
The committee will be chaired by AFD and will be composed of a representative of the AFD Campus, the SIBC programme coordinator and possible representatives of institutions invited by AFD).
Eligible applications are sent to the members of the selection committee at least one week before the committee meeting. Each jury member reviews the applications and the pre-established grades prior to the meeting.
The committee is a time for discussion and deliberation around the applications in order to agree on a cohort of 40 participants. This final selection takes into account the overall balance of the cohort: sectors, genders, nationalities, etc.
Jury members are sovereign in their decisions and are not obliged to give reasons for their decisions, which are without appeal.
Article 8 – Announcement of winners
Selected entrepreneurs are notified by e-mail and/or telephone between mid-July and mid-August. Unsuccessful candidates are also notified by e-mail.
The cohort will be officially announced on the SIBC website and social networks.
Article 9 – Engagement des candidats
All applicants to the Social & Inclusive Business Camp commit to :
Read and accept these rules and regulations fully and without reservation.
Provide accurate information in his or her application file. If it turns out that all or part of the information provided by the candidate is untrue, the candidate may be eliminated immediately from the competition without any possible complaint. Moreover, any selected candidate who has provided false information will have his or her selection cancelled and may be sued for reimbursement of any sums received.
Not to reproduce and/or use the trademark, company name, logo or any distinctive sign of a third party without its formal agreement.
Not to infringe the privacy and image rights of a third party. Not to transmit elements that infringe the intellectual property rights or the rights of third parties and in particular trademark law, patent law, personal rights or copyright. It is expressly understood that each candidate guarantees the organisers against any recourse by a third party claiming that the candidate has not complied with one or more of the above rules.
Actively participate in the e-learning programme, mentoring and the boot camp in Marseille if selected.
Expressly authorise, in the event of selection, the organisers to exploit, use and disseminate their name, first name, image, city and country, via all media, print and internet, as well as the characteristic elements of their activity and project. They renounce only for the needs of this contest to claim any right on their image and accept in advance the diffusion of the photographs that may be taken and videos shot during the boot camp.
To take part, in case of selection, in public and press relations operations relating to the programme, and to answer questions from journalists with whom the organisers may put them in contact.
For a period of one year at the end of the programme, the selected entrepreneurs commit to inform the organisers of the evolution of their business and the achievements of their companies.
A contract of agreement will be submitted to the selected candidates in order to agree on the terms and conditions of participation in the bootcamp, including the minimum threshold for participation in the programme.
Article 10 – Responsibility
The organizers cannot be held responsible for any routing problems or communication cuts, connection difficulties, etc.
Participation in the programme implies knowledge and acceptance of the characteristics and limitations of the Internet.
Consequently, the organisers cannot be held responsible under any circumstances, without this list being exhaustive:
for the transmission and/or reception of any data and/or information on the Internet
for any malfunction of the Internet network preventing the proper conduct/operation of the call for applications
for the loss of any data
for the consequences of any virus, computer bug, anomaly, technical failure
for any damage caused to a candidate's computer
for any technical, hardware and software failure of any kind that prevented or limited the possibility of participating in the programme or damaged a candidate's system.
It is specified that the organizers cannot be held responsible for any direct or indirect damage resulting from any interruption or malfunction for any reason whatsoever, or for any direct or indirect damage that would result, in any way whatsoever, from a connection to the plateform.
It is the responsibility of each applicant to take all appropriate measures to protect his or her own data and/or software stored on his or her computer equipment against any attack. The connection of any person to the plateform as well as their participation is done under their full responsibility.
Article 11 – Disqualification
The organisers reserve the right to disqualify any candidate whose actions or words in the context of this programme are indicative of inappropriate behaviour towards other candidates, including bad faith, lack of fair play, etc.
Article 12 – Consultation of the rules and regulations
The present rules are available on request to the organiser by e-mail at sibc.programme@gmail.com and can be consulted on the platform, under the heading "Rules and regulations”
Article 13 – Personal information and right of access
In accordance with the provisions of Law No. 78-17 of January 6, 1978 relating to computers, files and freedoms, participants have the right to access and rectify the information provided by contacting:
I&P Conseil
9 rue Notre Dame des Victoires
75002 PARIS
Article 14 – Personal data
The personal data concerning candidates collected in the context of the call for applications are compulsory and necessary for the processing of their application and the management of the operation.
The processing of these personal data is justified by the legal basis of carrying out pre-contractual formalities, which are measures prior to the signature of a contract and which facilitate the conclusion of a contract.
The personal data are intended solely for the use of the programme organisers, the associated consortium members, the Agence Française de Développement and the members of the selection committee.
Persons with access to the files are bound by professional secrecy with regard to this data. However, the organisers shall be authorised by the participant to communicate data concerning him/her to subcontractors and/or service providers for management purposes relating to the programme. The information communicated in the context of the programme shall be used solely for the purposes of the programme.
No other use of personal data will be made. No profiling will be carried out and, more generally, no automated decisions will be taken on the basis of the data collected.
Furthermore, no commercial use will be made of these data.
The storage period of personal data will be limited to the time necessary to achieve the purposes for which they were collected, namely the selection of candidates to participate in the SIBC programme. These data will not be retained after the programme has ended.
The organisers undertake, with regard to the persons concerned, to take all useful precautions to preserve the security of the information and in particular to prevent it from being communicated to unauthorised third parties.
The personal data may give rise to the exercise of the right of access, rectification, opposition under the conditions provided for by Law No. 78-17 of January 6, 1978 relating to computers, files and freedoms by writing to : Investisseurs & Partenaires, 9, rue Notre Dame des Victoires, 75002 Paris.
Participants may also exercise their rights to the removal, limitation of processing, portability of their data and define guidelines applicable after death, by writing to the address indicated above. Any participant also has the right to file a complaint with the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL).
Article 15 – Miscellaneous provisions
In the event of circumstances beyond their control, the organisers of the Social & Inclusive Business Camp reserve the right to postpone, shorten, extend or cancel this programme without being held liable for this. For the purposes of these rules, the Covid-19 pandemic and the governmental measures that relate to it and/or are the consequence of it constitute circumstances beyond their control.
Similarly, the organizers of the Social & Inclusive Business Camp cannot be held responsible for any changes affecting the terms and conditions of the program.
Any modification of the present rules will come into force from the moment they are put online and any candidate will be deemed to have accepted them by the simple fact of participating in the programme, from the date on which the modification comes into force.
Any violation of these rules will result in the cancellation of participation in the programme and the reimbursement of any sums paid, without any possible claim by the candidate.
In the event of a dispute relating to the provisions of the present rules or the application of the latter, the difficulty raised will be settled by the Agence Française de Développement, the programme's sponsor.
Failing this, only the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris will be competent to hear and rule on this difficulty.
- Maturity of the structure and management capacity
- Innovative nature of the proposed solution
- Potential of the business model and strategy for scaling up
- Social impact and contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals
- Profile(s) of the project leader(s)
- Relevance of the programme to the expectations and needs of the organisation
