Burkina Faso

GEN Burkina Faso

GEN began working in Burkina Faso in 2009 when it launched the country's first Global Entrepreneurship Week campaign. An immediate success, the campaign became an annual fixture steadily building a national conversation around entrepreneurship. To carry the work forward on a year-round basis, GEN established a local affiliate — GEN Burkina Faso, which connects Burkinabè founders to its flagship global programs. Ouagadougou is home to a robust Startup Huddle chapter and through the Entrepreneurship World Cup, a global pitch competition GEN launched in 2019, founders receive training, mentorship, and exposure to investors as they compete for a share of $1 million in prizes. GEN Burkina Faso also runs year-round capacity-building and structured entrepreneur support programs. Since GEN initiated GEW in Burkina Faso and brought the country’s entrepreneurship community into greater alignment, the ecosystem has developed rapidly. GEN is working to strengthen the networks, programs, and policies that allow Burkinabè founders — including the country's young, fast-growing community of women entrepreneurs — to start and scale.

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Issa Traore

Lead Contact

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GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT

Entrepreneurs Thrive Here: Global Entrepreneurship Week 2026

Millions of people around the world have the ideas, talent, and ambition to build something better for themselves and their communities — but have never seen entrepreneurship as a path available to them. Global Entrepreneurship Week, taking place November 16-22, 2026, changes that. This campaign meets people where they are and connects them to the networks, tools, and support to take that first step — showing what’s possible in their own communities.

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