6/19/2006

Suffolk University Dakar students won the Sudents in Free Enterprise Education(SIFE) national championship held at Université Cheikh Anta Diop Conference Center on Friday, June 16.

They won the championship on their second try in the national competition, after placing fourth in 2005.  “We knew we had to do better than we did last year and we wanted to do our best, and this shows that we did,” says Victor Bado, SIFE Suffolk’s team president.

Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) is a global non-profit organization that mobilizes university students to create economic opportunity for others while discovering their own potential.  SIFE students form teams on their university campuses and develop outreach projects that teach entrepreneurship, market economics, business ethics and finance in their communities.  In 2005, SIFE Africa was formed, and Suffolk Dakar became a charter member.

Suffolk University Dakar’s team spent the year working on two projects: a cooperative of women in Rufisque and a group of young female entrepreneurs in Kaolack.  By teaching both organizations the basics of a market economy and other business principles, Suffolk’s SIFE teams were able to improve profit margins, create stronger organizational infrastructure, implement modern technological methods (including a web site, www.10000girls.org), and the significantly improve the way they conduct business. 

As the 2006 National Champions, Suffolk University Dakar will be representing Senegal at the 2006 SIFE World Cup, scheduled for September 11-13, 2006, in Paris. More than 1000 people will attend the competition, hosted by SIFE International.  At the 2006 SIFE World Cup, the top 45 SIFE teams in the world will present the results of their outreach projects to determine which teams made the most impact on their communities.  Business executives from 30 countries, including some of the world’s top CEOs, will judge the competition.  The winner will be named 2006 SIFE World Cup Champion on September 13.  The final round of competition will be web cast via a link on www.sife.org.  

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