BITE

The action “BITE – Building Integration Through Entrepreneurship” aims to contribute to the social and economic integration in EU countries of newly arrived migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa by accompanying them in the creation of small businesses that have positive social and environmental impact in their countries of residence, through a tailored business acceleration process. Indeed, the current trends of migration and the socio-economic conditions of migrants in the EU, strongly calls for an action that specifically promote entrepreneurship among migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa. While boosting entrepreneurship among migrants proved to be an effective tool for social and economic integration, this solution only skims migrants from SubSaharan Africa. In a context where a considerable share of new migrants are from Sub-Saharan Africa and foreign-born entrepreneurs keep growing (the figure doubled in Austria, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain in 2008) and contributing to job creation (300.000 people employed in Italy – European Commission, DG Home 2011), the contribution of Sub-Saharan Africa nationals to this trend is still limited. Moreover, while contributing to the startup of small business led by migrant entrepreneurs born in Sub-Saharan Africa, the action aims to support job creation in the EU further and to encourage partnerships and networks among EU SMEs and markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, eventually leading to strengthening business activities and trade across EU and Africa.