Corporate Ambassadors Program

"Morocco Corporate Ambassadors Program - March 2009"

On March 14, 2009, in Agadir, Morocco, the Association des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises (AFEM) organized its second US Corporate Ambassadors Conference entitled, "Successfully Growing Your Business in Turbulent Times". This international conference was part of the MENA Businesswomen’s Network program, and organized by AFEM in cooperation with the U.S. State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), Vital Voices Global Partnership, and Invest in Med, sponsored by Méditel, AKWA Group and Ciments du Maroc.

Some 150 participants from all regions of Morocco, the United States, Algeria, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon came together to discuss not only the effects of the global economic crisis, but more importantly solutions to navigating the crisis and seizing the opportunity to grow one’s business. The Corporate Ambassadors Conference welcomed three prominent figures from the U.S.: Ms. Kay Thompson, CEO, TSG International; Ms. Pamela Millar, CEO, Bridgemakers Consulting; and Ms. Nancy Kamel, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Strategic Expansion Partners. In addition, a number of prominent figures from the Moroccan Government, corporate world and NGOs participated in workshops and panel discussions. The one day event provided concrete skills for business capacity building, in addition to offering a unique opportunity for both Moroccan businesswomen and U.S. executives to network and exchange ideas that will help solidify the critical link between businesswomen in the MENA region and the U.S.

During this conference, AFEM offered national economic actors the opportunity to discuss and review different tools to instead consider the current economic situation as an occasion to create veritable opportunities for business growth and to cultivate a proactive entrepreneurial spirit. In addition, AFEM’s choice of Agadir as the location for this conference highlighted the importance of the South as an economic powerhouse and the women who have contributed to the region’s economic success.

Bouthayna Iraqui-Houssaini, President of AFEM, opened the conference, followed by remarks by M. Aziz Akhenouch, Minister of Agriculture and Fishing, in which he described the economic, social and human advancements in Morocco and the series of entrepreneurial measures undertaken to support the country’s growth and development. “As the world is going through a deep crisis which has touched the nerve centers of the global economy, Morocco is developing a series of concrete measures to support the growth and the development that makes up its economy,” added M. Akhenouch, also the President of the Souss-Massa- Draa region. After presenting an overview of the « Maroc Vert » plan and its impacts on agriculture, M. Akhenouch highlighted the capacities already available in the region Souss-Massa-Draa, as well as the efforts deployed to realize development at the regional level. M. Rachid Filali, Wali of the Region Souss-Massa Draa, thanked AFEM for highlighting businesswomen in the South by holding the conference in Agadir and officially opened the event.

U.S. Consul General, Elisabeth Millard, then spoke about the importance of women’s entrepreneurship and the United States’ support of women’s economic participation in Morocco. Martina Bennett, Regional Coordinator of the MENA Businesswomen’s Network at Vital Voices Global Partnership, highlighted the Network and its programs, such as the Corporate Ambassadors Program, emphasizing that this type of investment in women’s leadership spurs the growth and development of women in business, politics and civil society and encourages cross-country network building to generate broader interest and create an atmosphere where women’s advancement is promoted and celebrated. Mme Iraqui took the parole again and localized all of these efforts into what AFEM is doing throughout Morocco to encourage women’s entrepreneurship through its 400 members, who employ over 22,000 people, through events such as these that impart business skills and a proactive spirit.

The packed yet diverse schedule delved into the multiple facets of the current economic crisis while opening the door to networking opportunities and interaction. The panel session on “Global Trends Facing the Financial Crisis” addressed attendees concerns regarding the current global economic environment. Kay Thompson explained the causes of the financial crisis and gave advice to small business owners to explore the changing nature of their customer. Nancy Kamel then provided a global overview of the economic crisis and its current implications for SMEs. She proposed four measures to enable a company to become more competitive: operate in countries with a flexible economy; have a short asset life; have low fixed costs; and have bargaining power. Pamela Millar provided proven strategies for CEOs during turbulent times, and stressed that “the most important thing to remember in a bad economy is you don’t want to do it alone. There is definitely strength in numbers.” M. Hamid Benlefdil, CRI Director of Casablanca, and Mme Saouad Doumiri, Vice President of AFEM for Enterprise Creation, then related the global to the local and discussed whether businesswomen should wait out the crisis, instead insisting that they should seize the opportunity to restructure and reorganize towards new prospects presented by the global economy. Finally, Mme Latifa Echihabi, ANPME Director, specified the direct aid available to entrepreneurs and to start-ups. In addition, she called on the Southern businesswomen to come together, create a map of women entrepreneurs in the region, and present it to the ANPME in order to take advantage of ANPME’s training and services.

With those optimistic remarks, participants were inspired into the first workshop on “Successfully Growing Your Business in Turbulent Times” led by Kay Thompson and Nadia Boujenoui, Manager of Customer Satisfaction for Pratt & Whitney Canada Corporation. The workshop trained participants how to build and restructure a business to adjust for changing markets. Ms. Thompson began by leading the participants through an exercise to rethink their business plans, starting from their mission statements and really thinking about the core of their business and its place in the larger economy. She then looked at business as well as marketing plans and helped the participants to stretch their thinking and how they view their business. In addition, Ms. Boujenoui emphasized the importance of knowing your customer and finding potential customers previously overlooked. Attendees came away from the workshop already having started restructuring their business plan.

Pamela Millar followed by presenting the second workshop on “Leverage to Success: Building Connections for Market Expansion and Growth.” In tough economic times, Ms. Millar emphasized that the key to success is strong networks of collaboration and partnership. This workshop gave participants guidelines for thinking holistically in developing leverage in their distribution channels, marketing and messaging and in offline as well as online social networks. How can you grow your market in a BAD economy? Through creative diversification and leverage, Ms. Millar suggested, citing literally dozens of ways to find new sales. The idea is to have multiple streams of income so that a business owner can protect oneself in a down economy. Ms. Millar led participants through several exercises, providing a very interactive and practical session.

Nancy Kamel and Khalil Azzouzi, Director of Dayam, facilitated the final workshop of the Corporate Ambassadors conference on “Growing and Financing Your Business in Uncertain Times.” Though the last workshop of the day, participants remained very engaged while listening to Ms. Kamel present tools that she had developed to help develop a business plan tailored to attracting third party investment, learn how to make a strong presentation and integrate due diligence in their businesses. Mr. Azzouzi then presented on the various avenues for financing in Morocco, specifically touching on how his company, Dayam, makes its investment decisions. Discussion also touched on capitalization and fundraising, as well as the current prospects for financing and investment in Morocco given the current financial crisis.

In closing, Mme Bouthayna Iraqui-Houssaini called on each entrepreneur to use the tools presented during the day’s activities to take charge of her business, self-equip, organize and react to one’s environment. She then urged everyone to become more proactive and capitalize upon these changes in the current economy to re-examine the core of one’s business, find new opportunities, and realize her growth potential.

The response to the event has been extremely positive and the participants left with a renewed passion for entrepreneurship and growing their businesses despite the uncertain economic environment. Certain participants even reported that this was AFEM’s best event ever and appreciated the interactive format and concrete tools presented during the workshops. In addition, the extensive press coverage of the event has definitely boosted AFEM’s name and credibility in a way that will help them expand their reach even more throughout Morocco. After meeting representatives from the MENA Businesswomen’s Network, AFEM members have started signing up to the MENA Businesswomen’s Network website (www.menabwn.org) to become more connected within their region and abroad. After the success of this event, AFEM further solidified its commitment to creating brighter prospects for businesswomen, specifically by officially creating an AFEM Chapter in Agadir by the following month. Throughout the year, AFEM will continue to spearhead many more similar landmark events and programs in partnership with the MENA Businesswomen’s Network, Vital Voices and MEPI.