SMEs on their way to business in Southern Africa: towards new results with company coaching

SProject SME Aisle organized its second business delegation trip for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in April 2019. During the two weeks of travelling, the team and the companies visited Namibia, South Africa and Zambia.

Companies focusing on maritime and logistics visited the coastal area of Walvis Bay in Namibia and Durban in South Africa during the delegation trip.

Altogether 31 companies from Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Latvia participated in the trip. These companies represented following sectors: maritime and logistics, automation, ICT and renewable energy. The delegation trip was the biggest of its kind in the project until now.

Next steps of the project will include business coaching of the SME Aisle companies. Coaching includes getting to know the business environment, finding the right business contacts and introducing themes especially requested by the companies such as interpretation services.

More on the project and its up-coming activities

 

SME Aisle delegation in a project’s business workshop. The workshop brought over 150 interested participants to the venue. Altogether SME Aisle organized four workshops of this kind during the delegation trip. Photo credits: the Embassy of Finland, Windhoek

 

Companies focusing on maritime and logistics visited the coastal area of Walvis Bay in Namibia and Durban in South Africa during the delegation trip.

Companies focusing on maritime and logistics visited the coastal area of Walvis Bay in Namibia and Durban in South Africa during the delegation trip.

 

 

 

In addition to the seminar in Capetown and visit to the local port, the SME Aisle delegation visited a “smart house” constructed by the Finnish Honkatalot oy (Polar Life House). By using special construction methods and materials, this house saves energy costs remarkably compared to the houses that are built traditionally.

The companies of SME Aisle participated in the Agritech expo during their visit to Sambia. The Agritech expo is a huge event locally. Traditionally Zambia’s president has participated in it as well. In the picture one of the SME Aisle companies is presenting its products to President H.E. Edgar Lungu.

Facts and figures of the SME Aisle delegation trip:

Share this page

Our students will be employed: Tina’s Journey in Sustainable Tourism

“Funnily enough, I hadn’t even heard of Finland before meeting my husband,” says Tina Salo from Malaysia. She graduated from SAMK in 2024 with a degree in International Tourism Management and now works as a receptionist at Sokos Hotel Vaakuna in Pori.

SAMK has organised SuomiAreena discussions in previous years as well.

SAMK is participating in SuomiAreena

SAMK will participate in SuomiAreena, held from June 24–27, 2025. SAMK will have a tent at Kansalaistori, featuring daily changing themes. In addition, SAMK will co-host a discussion titled "Finland thrives on the West Coast" (in Finnish).

The five-day intensive program was aimed at ICT students and included theoretical lectures and hands-on practical exercises.

CERN Spring Campus 2025: Record-breaking participation and global collaboration – See the photo gallery 

The annual CERN Spring Campus event was held for the first time in Finland last week, hosted by Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (SAMK). This international event, focusing on computer science and modern technology, attracted a record number of participants.