Centre for the Development of Enterprise
CDE is a Partner of the BiD Challenge, not with direct financial support, but by offering valuable services to our entrepreneurs.
The CDE, an institution of the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) Group of States and the European Union, contributes to the creation and development of enterprises in ACP countries, involving enterprises in EU countries. The CDE is a component of the European machinery for supporting the private sector in ACP countries. It lends assistance to:
- enterprises, either starting up or in development;
- intermediary organizations, representing trades or sectors;
- local firms of consultants, to build their capacity to meet the needs of enterprises.
- CDE’s mandate and criteria: To contribute to poverty reduction by fostering wealth creation in the ACP (Africa – Caribbean – Pacific) countries through the development of the various operators that make up the private sector in these countries. This implies lending support to 1) the creation and development of ACP enterprises, 2) intermediary institutions such as trade and/or sector organizations, combining its operations with those of PRO€INVEST and other EU and bilateral programmes and 3) firms of consultants and experts.
The CDE finances interventions up to a maximum of 2/3 of the cost for the creation, diversification, restructuring or development of enterprises based in ACP countries, in the phases of pre- and post-investment. The CDE does not finance the investment itself, but it can assist in finding investment partners.
The CDE’s ACP Network, made up of the Regional Field Offices (RFOs), the Technical Intervention Offices (TIOs) and specialised correspondents, has been recently revamped and reinforced. It is now a very reliable and valuable asset of local expertise in the field. The ACP Network provide institutions that are members of its network with information on the business environment, identification of potential opportunities, the search for and selection of local partners, preparation of missions of entrepreneurs and follow-up of possible projects of companies.
The current focus of the CDE is on the following sectors: (real sector programmes) sustainable forestry and timber processing, promotion of aquaculture, cotton and textile, tourism, cereals; (cross-sector programmes) investment finance, optimal energy management in industry, competitiveness enhancement, maintenance in the infrastructure sector, ICT.
ACP Countries Map.png -
For all ACP member countries, see www.acpsec.org/en/acp_states.htm