From April 22 to April 26, BiD Network together with local partner, BSC Monrovia, will host a group of seven investors visiting Liberia for the first time, exploring new, high potential investment opportunities.
While growth expectations for Africa are favorable, it still pays to have someone who knows their way around when investing there. It is with sharing local investment knowledge and practices that this Investor Trip has been organized. While some of the investors – including; Eclof, Acumen Fund, IFU, Root Capital, Injaro Invest, Oasis Capital Ghana – have experience investing in Africa, for all this is their first visit to Liberia.
The core objective of this investor excursion is to identify potential investment opportunities and also highlight the reforms and policies implemented, which are creating an enabling environment for the MSME sector to thrive and grow in Liberia. BiD Network and BSC Monrovia are compounding their thriving partnership to offer investors local knowledge: how to buy land, deal with bureaucracy, promote the business, and manage relations.
During their stay the seven investors will attend the MSME Conference, hosted by the Government of Liberia together with the IFC. BiD Network will be involved in the MSME Conference discussion, bringing together a group of financiers from the region and providing information and introductions to start or upscale their investments in Liberia.
BiD Network and BSC Monrovia have organized a number of parallel activities for the eight investors, coming from Europe and West Africa, to better demonstrate the opportunities Liberia has to offer. Meetings with experienced financiers, policy makers and representatives, will ensure the visiting investors gain a firsthand perspective of the ecosystem of local service providers which support and facilitate business in Liberia.
The delegation of investors will visit key government institutions including the National Investment Commission and hold meetings with various ministers, as well as investors and entrepreneurs with track record in the country. On the final day of the trip, the investors will participate in a trade fair where over 60 enterprises will be present, followed by a pitch session where the best entrepreneurs will present themselves and their business.
Maria Pontes, BiD Network Senior Advisor, stated, ‘After two years of implementing the SME development program in Liberia together with the Business Start-up Center and SPARK, it is very encouraging to see such an interest from the financiers side in the investment opportunities the country has to offer. Until now we have focused on the capacity building of our local partner and local entrepreneurs, but we are now obviously ready to take the next step towards improving access to finance to Liberian entrepreneurs.’
