African SMEs: New Opportunities and Advances in Quality Management after #SARA2025

At the end of 2025, our team leader Bernd Pöschk made an additional visit to the Invest for Jobs and GIZ project "Access to African markets for high-potential SMEs in Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Ghana". The objectives of the mission were to assess the current impact of the participation of the project's beneficiary companies at the SARA trade fair, held from 05.23 to 06.01.2025 in Abidjan, and to check the companies' progress in implementing their quality management systems (HACCP and ISO), which will be audited in the coming weeks.

During the SARA trade show, participating companies from the three countries concerned established a host of new contacts with potential distributors, processors, raw material suppliers and other partners. Many discussions and negotiations are still underway, but it is encouraging to see that some attempts at collaboration have already come to fruition. Marketing tests between the countries concerned are currently underway. It should be remembered, however, that the main obstacles to consistent trade between the countries of the sub-region, compared with "North-South" trade, are cumbersome administrative procedures and high transport costs.

Some companies have been able to develop relationships with their colleagues in other countries to exchange products or represent their products on their respective markets. Visits between companies have taken place post SARA. For example, two partner companies from Senegal visited Anne's Perfection in Ghana to further explore opportunities for collaboration, and to learn from the company's advances in quality management.

As a result of the discussions at SARA, several companies (e.g. Fruitales, Anne's Perfection, Bachelor Venture, AFB Golden, etc.) have developed new packaging and/or new products, which are currently being launched in their target markets. Companies were inspired by the products of other exhibitors to introduce innovations into their own product ranges.

Aside from the obvious "success stories" based on the project's coaching of companies before, during and after the show, it's quite impressive to see the progress companies have made in setting up their quality management systems. Companies have definitely become aware of the importance of having a functional, certified quality management system to establish themselves and persevere in buoyant markets.

14 of the companies supervised are currently at an advanced stage of mastery of the necessary procedures and have adapted their infrastructures so that certification of their systems can take place in the coming weeks. This will also enable them to conquer new markets, which are becoming increasingly demanding in terms of quality.

Our sincere thanks go to our project team and to the GIZ teams for their support in this project and for their excellent work.