Project Group "Innovation, Employability and Markets in Africa" - IEMA

BET Ghana - Building Expertise and Training for growth in the consumer goods and food processing industry in Ghana

The BET Ghana project expands the knowledge and professional entrepreneurial skills of researchers, lecturers and students as well as entrepreneurs in the consumer goods and food processing industries in Ghana and in trade with the European Union and Germany. Together with the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and a large network of business partners in Germany and Ghana, BET Ghana will be funded over a period of 3.5 years by the DAAD/BMZ as part of the special initiative "Training and Employment". The total funding amounts to 630,000 euros.

Contact person: Oghenekome Umuerri

Project duration: 7/2019 - 12/2022

Project website

CEPU - Collaboration for Entrepreneurial Universities

The Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences leads the third-party funded project on the subject of "Strengthening the labor market orientation of universities in Kenya". The project "Collaboration for Entrepreneurial Universities - CEPU" is being carried out by a consortium consisting of the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences as consortium leader, the University of Leipzig, the Leuphana University of Lüneburg and the University of Wismar. Project partners in Kenya are Kenyatta University and Mount Kenya University.

The aim of the project is to support the Kenyan partner universities in their efforts to improve the employability of their graduates and to promote the transfer of knowledge to society through a stronger professional and practical orientation of the courses offered and strong networking with their social and economic environment. For this purpose, joint reform measures for the labor market orientation of the two Kenyan universities are to be designed and implemented.

The project is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Contact person: Christine Freitag

Project duration: 05/2018 - 12/2021

PASS - Partnership for Applied Sciences

As part of the NRW-Ghana partnership and the funding program "NRW partnerships for the promotion of technical universities in Ghana", the Ministry of Culture and Science (MKW) has been funding, since 2017, the university partnership project "Partnership for Applied Sciences - PASS" via the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). In the project are involved the University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (consortium leader), the Technical University of Cologne, the International University of Applied Sciences Bad Honnef and the two Ghanaian universities Kumasi Technical University and Cape Coast Technical University.

The aim of the project is to strengthen the practical orientation of teaching and research at the Ghanaian partner universities, as well as in company management, in order to increase the success of students and graduates on the job market and to create new employment opportunities. The aim of the project is also to initiate international, application-oriented research and to expand and strengthen the regional and international network of representatives from science, business and the public sector.

Contact person: Oghenekome Umuerri

Project duration: 07/2017 - 12/2021

Project website

GAUP - German-African University Partnership Platform for the Development of Entrepreneurs and SMEs

The project "German-African University Partnership Platform for the Development of Entrepreneurs and Small/Medium Enterprises" was funded by the DAAD and BMZ as part of the program "Practical Partnerships between German Universities and Developing Countries". The Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences cooperates with the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and the University of Nairobi in Kenya.

The aim of the project is to optimally prepare university graduates in Africa for the job market through practice-oriented teaching and research. Another focus of the project is the promotion of entrepreneurship and SMEs. The project gives German companies the opportunity to carry out market research in Africa.

There is also a student exchange program between the three partner universities. H-BRS students can spend up to four months in Ghana or Kenya in cooperation with a German company as part of their thesis (bachelor's and master's degree).

Contact person: Christine Freitag

Project duration: 02/2015 - 12/2018

Mittelstandsindex Afrika

Africa is one of the most diverse and most economically promising continent in the world. By 2050, more than two billion people, who are also potential consumers of German products, are expected to live in its fifty-four countries. However, companies often hesitate to take the first step: the risks of entering the market in many African countries appears too big. However, some countries already offered German companies, especially medium-sized companies, the opportunity to do profitable business there.

The Africa SME Index is intended to make it easier for entrepreneurs to find their way to Africa. It provides a country rating for thirty-four African countries, allowing a quick overview of each country's business attractiveness. Data from fifty-five input factors are compressed and evaluated and clearly displayed with the help of traffic light colors. A country's rating value assesses the average attractiveness of its market for German SMEs.

The Africa SME Index was developed by the BRS Institute for International Studies at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences and partners from SMEs and will be further improved and regularly updated in the future with the support of the Agency for Economics & Development.

Contact person: Jan Koetsier

Project website (in German)

Business Plan Competitions

The Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences runs, in cooperation with partners in Ghana and Kenya, Business Plan competitions for various sponsors. This includes the Young Entrepreneurs Business Plan Award, financed by DEG/KfW, with the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, and the University of Nairobi, Kenya.

Another Business Plan competition is the Green Entrepreneurship Start up Award, donated by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), together with the University of Cape Coast and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana.

Contact person: Christine Freitag

Konferenz "Universities, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development in Africa" - UEED 

Since 2012, H-BRS has organised the international conference "Universities, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development in Africa" ​​in cooperation with its African partner universities.

The conference provides a platform for the continuous transfer of knowledge between business and academia, especially with regard to entrepreneurship in Africa, the promotion of African and German SMEs in Africa, as well as the training and recruitment of qualified personnel.

The 10th UEED conference was held at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences on September 8-9, 2022. 

Contact person:  Oghenekome Umuerri