We encourage you to propose a contribution in one of the formats listed below.Deadline for abstract submission is 10 June 2025
Format of Contributions
The conference’s aim is, above all, to discuss ideas, results, generalizations, hypotheses, and plans among an audience representing institutions from education, business, development studies, and related fields. We encourage the submission of inputs with an explorative or conceptual nature, case studies, and reports concerning successes or failures. Therefore, the two-day program encompasses the following formats:
- Paper Presentations (e.g. MS PowerPoint)
- Panel Discussions
Panel sessions serve as discussion forums for issues of contemporary interest to entrepreneurs and academics in Africa.
Panels are complete sessions organized as a single submission by the panel chair around a common theme.
Panels may have a variety of formats. Examples include roundtables with no formal papers, innovative presentations utilizing software or film, keynote and discussion with very senior scholar(s) and expert(s).
Potential contributors should submit an abstract (maximum 500 words / one page). Deadline for abstract submission is 10th June 2025. Please follow this Link to submit your abstract.
Submission of papers is required by 21 July 2025. Abstracts, presentation slides and posters will be published on the conference website. Final papers will be published in an electronic conference proceedings volume with DOI number.
Here, you can find some guidelines.
Conference Theme Innovative and Inclusive Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development for a Sustainable Green and Blue Economy in Africa
Subthemes
The conference theme is structured into eight subthemes. They serve only as an orientation for contributions to the conference. All contributions related to the conference theme are welcome, also those which cover more than one subtheme, and those which cannot clearly be assigned to one of the subthemes.
This session involves issues of farming for food security, precision agriculture, hydroponics, and greenhouse. Other issues include financing and scaling sustainable agribusiness ventures, climate-smart agriculture and its role in sustainable food systems. It also includes issues of developing policy frameworks for promoting green and blue entrepreneurship in these spaces. Renewable energy and green innovation for business growth, entrepreneurial opportunities in clean energy and circular economy are also covered.
This sub-theme focuses on AI-driven business solutions for sustainable development, artificial intelligence ethics and governance, digital transformation and smart technologies in agribusiness and enterprise growth. Other issues include the use of AI for supply chain optimization and market intelligence in sustainable businesses.
This sub-theme discusses inclusive business ecosystems for marginalized and underrepresented entrepreneurs, gender equity and social impact entrepreneurship. Issues of policies and incentives for fostering diverse and inclusive business environments are also discussed. Other issues to be discussed include health, social protection and productivity and its implications for businesses and policy makers in Africa
This session focuses on leveraging coastal and marine resources for entrepreneurship, sustainable business models in renewable energy and coastal resource management. This sub-theme covers sustainable fisheries, aquaculture, and marine-based enterprises, innovations in ocean conservation and coastal community development, and climate resilience strategies for coastal businesses.
This session covers issues involved in developing entrepreneurial mindsets for sustainability-driven businesses, integration of green principles and practices into curriculum, developing green and blue economy academic programmes, university-industry collaboration for innovation and enterprise development, incubation hubs and accelerators for green and blue economy startups. Issues of applied research and teaching for sustainable development in Africa, models, success factors, challenges are discussed.
This sub-theme covers issues of impact investing and green finance for sustainable enterprises, public-private partnerships in financing eco-friendly startups, alternative funding models, including crowdfunding and venture capital for sustainability. Financial institution initiatives and products for blue and green economy development, and sustainable financing models for green startups.
This session focuses on business opportunities in recycling, upcycling, and sustainable waste management. It also covers the role of circular economy practices in reducing environmental impact, innovations in biodegradable and eco-friendly product development, and waste-to-energy initiatives and their role in sustainable business.
This session focuses on issues of applied research and teaching for SDGs in Africa, including Environment & Climate, Social Protection, Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Microfinance. It highlights SDG Innovations and opportunities including how to develop various solutions to deal with challenges of climate change, i.e., applied oriented learning (didactics & technical capacity), Sustainability development on Campus (online guest lectures) and strengthening applied research in sustainable development.