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

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.

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: