JEDDAH — The Islamic Development Bank Group held the final stage of its business plan competition for entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa, with multiple financial and non-financial prizes awarded to the winners of the first edition on Dec. 4 in Casablanca. The first development plans contest undertaken by the Group was launched based on a guiding principle, i.e., to provide holders of reliable projects with the means to realize their dreams. The competition opened to entrepreneurs with business projects still in incubation, and to those wishing to develop their business further. IDB has signed 19 partnership agreements with organizations for entrepreneurship development. Launched in January 2014 by IDB's Competition Group, the competition has attracted the participation of over 650 candidates from 22 sub-Saharan countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo and Uganda. The main objective is to enable candidates to achieve their goals and start their own business on a sound basis, based on an ambitious development plan. — SG
