Pan African Alliance of Small and Medium Industries - Paosmi

21/06/2026

📢 PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT

🤝 PAOSMI and the Czech Chamber of Commerce Sign Strategic Cooperation MOU

📅 19 June 2026
📍 Nairobi, Kenya


The Pan African Alliance of Small and Medium Industries (PAOSMI) and the Czech Chamber of Commerce (CCC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen Africa–Czech Republic cooperation in trade, industry, technology transfer, investment promotion, and SME development.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the MNL Africa Leadership Circle 2026 and will support:

✅ Business-to-Business (B2B) matchmaking
✅ Trade and investment missions
✅ Technical training and knowledge exchange
✅ Joint ventures and technology partnerships
✅ Industrial modernization and innovation

Priority sectors include:
🌾 Agro-processing
🏭 Smart Manufacturing
⚙️ Industrial Automation
🔐 Cyber Security
💻 Digital Resilience

This partnership reinforces PAOSMI's commitment to creating new opportunities for African SMEs through international collaboration, technology transfer, and market access.

21/06/2026

📢 PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT

🤝 PAOSMI and IPAWAS Sign MOU for the 2nd ECOWAS Startups Award

📅 19 June 2026
📍 Abuja, Nigeria


The Pan African Alliance of Small and Medium Industries (PAOSMI), serving as the Implementation Agency for the ECOWAS Commission on the 2nd ECOWAS Startups Award, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Investment Promotion Agencies of West African States (IPAWAS), the Co-Implementation Agency for the programme.

The agreement will strengthen collaboration in programme implementation, financial administration, startup mobilisation, regional coordination, stakeholder engagement, and resource mobilisation for the successful delivery of the 2nd ECOWAS Startups Award.

The programme is convened by the Directorate of Private Sector and Industry of the ECOWAS Commission and is scheduled to take place from:

📅 21–30 September 2026
📍 ECOWAS Commission, Abuja, Nigeria

The partnership will support:

✅ Startup mobilisation, screening and onboarding
✅ Pitching, evaluation and award coordination
✅ Financial administration and accountability
✅ Investor, partner and stakeholder engagement
✅ Post-award acceleration and entrepreneurship support
✅ Regional innovation and market access promotion

Focus sectors include:
🎓 EdTech
🏥 HealthTech
💳 FinTech
🌾 AgriTech
♻️ CleanTech
⚡ EnergyTech

This partnership reinforces PAOSMI’s commitment to supporting the ECOWAS Commission in promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, digital transformation, regional integration, investment readiness, and sustainable value-chain development across West Africa.

16/06/2026

13/06/2026

Africa cannot import its way into prosperity.

Strong small and medium industries are the foundation of jobs, value addition, manufacturing growth, and regional trade.

PAOSMI stands for an Africa that produces, competes, and grows through its own enterprise capacity.

09/06/2026

Dear Esteemed Member, Institutional Partner, and Stakeholder,

PAOSMI is pleased to share an invitation from UNCTAD and the UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa to a high-level thematic policy engagement on:

Positioning Services as a Pathway to Structural Transformation in Least Developed Countries (LDCs)

Date: Monday, 15 June 2026
Time: 12:00 - 14:30 WAT / 14:00 - 16:30 EAT
Venue: Virtual

This policy engagement will explore the role of services in supporting structural transformation, productive capacity development, trade competitiveness, and inclusive growth in LDCs.

PAOSMI encourages members, institutional partners, and stakeholders to participate.

Register here:
https://undp.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tPQkrvGaSWy4a9DbB4b1Gg

Warm regards,
PAOSMI Secretariat

08/06/2026

PAOSMI invites its members, affiliates, MSMEs, SMEs, SMIs, entrepreneurs, and business support institutions to join two upcoming WTO MSME Group engagements focused on small business growth, trade, digitalization, innovation, and market participation.

1. Small Business Champions Awards Ceremony
Date: Monday, 29 June 2026
Time: 9:00-9:45 WAT
This global ceremony will celebrate innovation, resilience, and impact across the small business community, with a special focus on the role of digital technologies in enabling MSME growth.
Register here: https://lnkd.in/eHjte66s

2. WTO MSME Group Private Sector Meeting
Date: Tuesday, 30 June 2026
Time: 2:00-3:00 WAT

The session will feature discussions on tools and resources available for MSMEs in trade, as well as an open exchange on MSMEs, trade uncertainty, intellectual property, and the creative industries.
Register here: https://lnkd.in/eSQvKdtj

PAOSMI encourages members to participate actively and use these sessions to connect with global MSME policy discussions, explore trade-related opportunities, and contribute perspectives from Africa’s small and medium industrial sector.
Let us strengthen African MSME visibility in global trade conversations.

07/06/2026

Happy World Food Safety Day 2026!

Today, PAOSMI joins the world in promoting safe food everywhere.

For Africa’s SMIs and SMEs, food safety means healthier people, stronger industries, trusted products, and better access to local, regional, and AfCFTA markets.

Safe food is good health.
Safe food is good business.
Safe food is industrial competitiveness.

Let us move from burden to solutions by supporting African food producers with standards, training, traceability, quality infrastructure, and market access.

15/03/2026

PAOSMI and ECOWAS Strengthen Ties to Boost Regional Startup Ecosystem.

ABUJA, March 12, 2026 – Leaders from the Pan African Alliance of Small and Medium Industries (PAOSMI) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Private Sector Directorate met at PAOSMI Secretariat in Nigeria to finalize plans for a landmark regional startup summit aimed at industrializing the West African economy.

The working visit, held on March 11, 2026, was moderated by Dr. Henry E Emejuo, Director-General/CEO of PAOSMI with Mr Peter Oluonye the Ag Director, ECOWAS private sector directorate and featured high-level discussions on fostering innovation and supporting small & Medium scale industries in the region and across the continent.

During the session, PAOSMI presented a strategic roadmap for the upcoming 2nd ECOWAS Startup Summit. This very important ECOWAS initiative is designed to move beyond traditional "talk-shows" by implementing practical sessions that provide tangible value to entrepreneurs. The Director of the ECOWAS Private Sector Directorate expressed commitment to aligning the summit with broader regional industrialization goals.
"The summit is not just about an award; it is about how to help startups by bringing in experts in packaging and export to upscale businesses," stated Engr. Emmanuel Kwaya of PAOSMI. He emphasized that even participants who do not win the top prize will gain critical expertise and knowledge to build their businesses.
It was concluded that the summit must focus on "practical involvement" and "planning differently" to maintain excitement and deliver results without the boredom often associated with large-scale corporate events, the event scheduled for October 2026.

The collaboration marks a significant step toward achieving PAOSMI’s vision of a globally competitive African industrial ecosystem driven by innovative small and medium-scale industries.