In June 2022, KEDGE Arts School, in partnership with b.creative and the Institut des Métiers du Management et de l'Innovation - a subsidiary of BEM Dakar, organised b.creative West Africa.
This event is organised every year by the b.creative network. This association was built following the strong demand from creative entrepreneurs for international networking in order to create partnerships and build projects and political decision-makers approaching culture and creative entrepreneurship as a lever for social and economic development. It is a global network with a presence in over 100 countries bringing together cultural and creative entrepreneurs, associations, public agencies, hubs and incubators.
KEDGE Arts School had already taken part in this conference in Shanghai in 2017, and Dakar in 2022.
A competition was organised during the conference to reward the most promising entrepreneurial projects. Three projects received awards:
- Touki Travel, a digital platform to develop tourism in Senegal;
- Now Association, artistic workshops to promote live performance as part of a social impact project;
- Afritalex, a virtual and physical campus for training in the fashion industry.
A representative from each of these companies was invited to KEDGE Paris by KEDGE Arts School for a week of incubation and coaching. Samy Mendy, Fama Gueye and Abdou Cissé arrived in Paris at the end of March. They received personalised coaching from KEDGE Arts School teachers, met with KEDGE Entrepreneurship's team and exchanged ideas with students from the MSc Arts & Creative Industries Management. On this occasion, Samy and Mélanie from Now Association gave an artistic performance entitled "from weightlessness to freedom" on the KEDGE Paris premises for the benefit of all the students, lecturers and collaborators.
