Empowerment of immigrant entrepreneurs

1
Empowerment of immigrant entrepreneurs

• 28 th of June 2006
• LNet Entrepreneurship for a better City
• Amsterdam

2
The project

• Empowerment of immigrant workers
• FORMAPER Special Agency of the Milan Chamber of
  Commerce acted on the Empowerment of immigrant
  entrepreneurs
• In the majority immigrant enterprises are in
  Milan province
• Immigrant entrepreneurs come mainly from Africa
  (49,1)
• Asia (25,6)
• Europe (19,3)
• Latin America (6,0)

3
Why immigrant entrepreneurs and enterprises are
disadvantaged?

• They are a minority
• Immigrant entrepreneurs in Lombardy are 26.446
  (31 December 2003)
• They are 2,4 of all entrepreneurs
• The enterprises controlled by foreigners coming
  from low or lower middle income countries (World
  Bank country classification) are 21.825 (3 of
  all enterprises)
• Recent development and most enterprises are new
• In 75,5 of the cases were found after 1st
  January 2000.

4
Why immigrant enterprises are disadvantaged?

• Growing fast
• Their development rate was 24,7 during 2003
  (1,2 for enterprises controlled by Italian)
• Small dimension
• They are in great majority sole proprietorship
  (86,9) and only a few minority are company
  managed by two or more people.
• Traditional sectors
• In 32 of the cases are active in trade sector,
  in 27 building sector, in 14 manufacturing

5
Why immigrant entrepreneurs are disadvantaged?

• Entrepreneurs are young
• In 70,1 of cases they have less than 44 years
  (while only 46,3 of all entrepreneurs in
  Lombardy have less than 44 years)
• Women are few
• Women entrepreneurs are 19,7 of total immigrant
  entrepreneurs (29,9 for all enterprises in
  Lombardy)

6
Why immigrant entrepreneurs are disadvantaged?

• Entrepreneurs often face toward
• prejudice, racial stereotypes, discriminations,
  scarce integration
• restrictions and constrains due to immigration
  law
• scarce knowledge of Italian language (in
  particular for some national groups)
• difficulties of comprehension of local, social,
  legal and economic context in Italy
• difficulties to know and to use existing
  information about start up and manage enterprises
• difficulties in recognition of degree taken in
  their countries
• downgrade of professional qualification in front
  of a different qualification system

7
Why immigrant enterprises are disadvantaged?

• Enterprises controlled by immigrant entrepreneurs
  often face toward
• lack of relational networks appropriate to
  development of enterprises
• problems due to great involvement of countrymen
  inside enterprises (permit of stay, recognition
  of degree or qualification, great turn-over,
  discrimination from customers, etc.)
• initial difficulties to gain the confidence of
  suppliers and customers
• lack of capital investment, difficulties in
  relations with banks

8
How did the project act?

• analyze presence, characteristics and problems of
  immigrant entrepreneurs from different sources
  (official archives of chamber of commerce,
  qualitative interviews to experts and
  entrepreneurs)
• train, inform and encourage immigrant
  entrepreneurs participating to training sessions
  to upgrade their knowledge, to promote network
  among them and local entrepreneurs, to be witness
  of their experiences among countrymen
• develop in all those who work in the project
  capabilities to interact and to project future
  intervention in favour of foreign entrepreneurship

9
How did the project act on specific disadvantages?

• Human Resource Problems
• Upskilling activities
• The project acted with free training and
  information for immigrant entrepreneurs
  considering specific problems but also general
  problems facing all entrepreneurs in Italy
• The aim of this kind of intervention was to
  improve skills of immigrant entrepreneurs on
  these themes but also sustain and reinforce
  entrepreneurs capability to continue learn and
  develop new solutions for future similar problems.

10
How did the project act on specific disadvantages?

• Human Resource Problems
• Overcoming cultural barriers through integration
  in community
• Cultural barriers may be also the result of
  scarce knowledge and ignorance, from both side,
  native and immigrant.
• The project did an innovative and deepen analysis
  on chamber of commerce archives statistical data
  and also interviewed experts of the theme and
  immigrant entrepreneurs.
• All the experience acquired was itself an action
  of making aware all people involved to develop a
  new phase of activities better targeted to meet
  immigrants entrepreneurs needs

11
How did the project act on specific disadvantages?

• Inadequate networks
• Investing in network building
• Multi-ethnic working (both research and
  classrooms) permits to people involved to do
  networking
• networks and associations among entrepreneurs
• a new association among municipality, chamber of
  commerce, universities, representatives of
  immigrants
• new project actually running

12
What is transferable?

• Transferability of upskilling activities
• Training is broadly used. It is important to do a
  specific analysis (both quantitative and
  qualitative) before training
• Important conditions
• free chance to participate
• select entrepreneurs who want to participate
  choosing the most motivate and needy
• agency with a strong experience in local
  enterprise and economy, in developing training
  project for native entrepreneurs.
• evaluate the choice to do multi-ethnic or
  mono-ethnic training courses.

13
What is transferable?

• Transferability of overcoming cultural barriers
• The approach based on research before starting
  training is broadly used.
• Effectiveness depends on
• existing (or non existing) analysis on immigrant
  entrepreneurship
• specific characteristics, capability and
  situation of bodies and people involved
• specific development of immigrant
  entrepreneurship
• existing (or non existing) local services in
  favour of immigrant entrepreneurs.

14
What is transferable?

• Transferability of investing in network building
• Transferability of process of networking is very
  fragile and depends on
• local context,
• composition of immigrant entrepreneurship,
• competence of public and private bodies,
• capability and will of networking,
• inevitable conflict by coexistence of different
  cultures inside the network,
• difficulty to find persons really
  representatives of different immigrants
  nations.

15
Advice to implement similar projects

• To admit importance of data analysis as the first
  step to know immigrant entrepreneurship
• To have a team of people strongly motivated to
  develop the project (both native and immigrant)
• To interview, meet and involve immigrant
  entrepreneurs and representatives of the
  immigrant communities
• To sustain development of networks among subjects
  interested in immigrant entrepreneurship (having
  specific aims in common and future common
  activities)
• Over all, to invest in people and building up
  entrepreneurial and human capital