• Economic and competitive intelligence studies 

   In an economic context of competition created by globalization, the revolution of information and communication  technologies and the necessity of  economic integration of African countries, control, research, treatment and diffusion, and the protection of strategic information under all its aspects are as many elements to take into account by the African countries in order to give more dash to the companies involved in international market conquest , but also and especially to promote the common interests. Although efforts were produced to improve competitiveness of companies and African economies on the world markets, Africa continues to occupy a decreasing place. 

   In this context, It is important to include/understand well at the same time the macro-economic tendencies, the geo-economic environment evolutions to find solutions supporting the competitiveness of the companies and African economies on the regional and international markets.

   The objectives of this program are:

• To support the activities of the national and regional public organizations of competitiveness management and economic security through studies, consultations, discussions and proposals for the profit of States, local authorities and companies, 
• To support the emergence and the anchoring of competitive intelligence as tool of competitiveness, economic security, governance and crisis anticipation (Financial, economic, social.....).
• To improve and build competences and capacities of the national partners as regards competitive intelligence and strategic information management.
• To take part in the search of a healthy and durable economic growth, amelioration of the populations living conditions, improvement of competitiveness and the deepening of integration
• Participate in the intensification of the competitiveness of the productive sector and in the emergence of the technological innovation in the African industry by carrying assistance to the protection of African knowledge

 

• Business competitiveness

   Before the increase of competing pressure, the African companies show a delay, to so much benefit really from opportunities or to secure risks created by the opening of the markets. The companies more particularly SME-SME to conquer the international market must be able to profit from powerful tools to get information and react as fast as possible to the evolutions of their environment and to improve their competitiveness. It consequently becomes necessary to set up effective services of support to help the companies to improve their competitiveness.

   The aim of this program is to improve and reinforce the competitiveness of the companies and the heads of companies; it comprises two aspects:

• To sensitize and train companies and managers of companies, on the use of competitive intelligence in their strategies,
• To place to their disposal, relevant information
• To evaluate the appropriation of competitive intelligence initiative.

 

• Standards and trade policies

   Many African countries realized only recently at which point they were not armed to face as well with the challenges of the liberalization of the international trade as to the stakes of their participation in a multilateral trade arrangement.

   In addition international economic competition took new forms. It is exerted not only the image of the company but also on the rules and the international standards, obtaining contracts. The international activities of the companies are favored not only by their own commercial efforts but also by those of their States.

   The need for build the capacities of the African countries becomes increasingly manifest, to not only defend themselves against the risks induced by liberalization of the trade on a world level, but also to be able to seize the chances created by this opening markets. That requires the development of the capacities related to the trade, in order to increase their participation in the world trade.

   The objective of the program is: 

• Initially, to help the African countries to get benefit from the process of the globalization, and the multilateral commercial system in particular, by helping them to take part in a more active way in work and the negotiations of the Economic Partnership Agreements (APE) with the UE and OMC.  
• It will also be a question of facilitating their integration in the regional markets and the world market, and to benefit from the possibilities offered by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) as regards trade.
• Then, to undertake research, analyses and actions of training and information in favor of the companies, national agents and regional involved in the trade negotiations and competitiveness.

 

• Territorial Competitiveness and ICT

   With decentralization, it is on the local level that are made the principal innovations as regards governance and “sustainable development” approaches is more concrete and more active there than at the national level. It is thus a question of developing and valorizing this local which is the space of governance nearest to the population. That supposes the consensual definition of the roles of the various actors (states, civil company, private sector, local governments etc.)

   Within this framework, the local authorities must be able to continue as actors of development and to improve their operation and to be able to face challenges, in a globalization and a search for adequacy with the Millennium Development Goals- MDG. 

   It is necessary for that to take into account the aspects of economic development (productive economy and residential economy) and of social cohesion (employment, insertion). The Territorial intelligence thus becomes impossible to circumvent because it is in the service of the territorial decision makers, development of the productive economy and in the service of the territorial communities to create new bonds and alliances between actors of the territory.

   In addition, information and the communication have since any time held a determining role in the building and the development of territories. The territorial intelligence and ICT are thus today rather notable and this, even if they are not well diffused. The territorial intelligence and Information and communication technologies (ICT) are often presented as the businesses and territories competitiveness stimulating. 

   The objective of this program is

   To carry out a research in territorial intelligence and to contribute to build the capacities of the actors of the territorial development in order to make them able to take up the challenges of territory management, giving them knowledge necessary to acquisition, management, exploitation and diffusion of information relating to the territory, like with the implementation of information and technologies tool technologies.