Entrepreneurs

Editor’s Note: This article was featured in Ventures Africa magazine April/May edition VENTURES AFRICA – At 26 years of age, starting a business was the furthest thing from my mind. I was into my third year as a Research Analyst at the World Bank Group, surrounded by a diverse group of powerful decision makers who, [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – No longer is it still a sardonic joke, the myth about funding has to be shot down in the most authoritative way possible, least it becomes a reality and truth, the longer it’s repeated. For one thing, after an influx of frustrating funding stories from aspiring entrepreneurs, about their failures to access [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Nigeria’s Justus Nwaoga has developed a new way to collect renewable solar energy by using mimosa pudica weed, an organic African medicinal plant. Chosen from more than 900 applications from 45 countries, Nwaoga and nine others with their teams have emerged finalists for the Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) after developing practical solutions [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Like the floating mountains of James Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster, Avatar, Diary of an Under 30 CEO has become one of the most unusual, frequently outrageous oasis of entrepreneurial knowledge of our time. Africa might be home to a handful of dollar billionaires; however, it is waiting for its first truly dominant global organization. [...]

“Three components make an entrepreneur: the person, the idea and the resources to make it happen.” – Anita Roddick VENTURES AFRICA - I get confused with quotes sometimes – one points at a direction and the other seems to point at the opposite. However, the above quote is meant to set the pace for this [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Two African students have created a malaria-repellant soap using local herbs, and have won, consequently, a $25,000 Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) award. The GSVC is the only international competition of Social Business Plans, dedicated to students, young graduates, and entrepreneurs with high social and/or environmental startups. Moctar Dembélé who hails from Burukina Faso and Gérard [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – The Vital Voices Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Growth Program is organizing a one-year comprehensive program tailored to build the capacity and concrete skills of African SME women business owners, to create actionable business plans to grow their businesses. The SME Growth Training Program is an online and in-person program that integrates the latest business [...]

This story was featured in Ventures Africa magazine’s February/March Edition… VENTURES AFRICA – Ashish Thakkar is a lively person. Even at 7:30am, when we meet in the London Park Lane Intercontinental Hotel, he is bright-eyed and every inch the energetic entrepreneur. Yet ‘entrepreneur’ is a pretty inadequate description of the founder and CEO of the [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Today any firm can become fat and mostly happy, even if initially it was losing so much money it seemed to threaten its very existence, and became a basket case with a problem of survivorship. However, the fundamental thing is to keep learning from previous mistakes, and keep improving your entrepreneurial skills, [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – As of this week, entrepreneurs looking for advice to grow their business in Africa will get direct access to a pool of dedicated mentors, while Africans living in the Diaspora and business experts from around the world are now able to get directly involved with venture creation and provide critical feedback to [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – As of today, this ambitious column, without dragging itself into the egotistical realms of ungratefulness, and never much in two minds, will hijack the opportunity whilst in a celebratory mood to acknowledge its readers; words fail me when it comes to describing your efforts. Thanks to the readers, the resident entrepreneurship column [...]

What does Nigerian online retailer, Konga.com, have in common with Africa’s largest media company? VENTURES AFRICA – At 10, Nigerian-born Sim Shagaya began writing computer codes. At Christmas, he would program his basic computer, run syntaxes, and connect it to a TV set to display ‘Merry Christmas’ and a digital xmas tree. Many years later, [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – The Tony Elumelu Foundation hosted its Founding Patron, the world’s foremost expert on business strategy and competitiveness, Professor Michael E. Porter, at a series of lectures and events intended to inspire and improve business leaders in Nigeria. “We are committed to developing the future leaders of industry in Africa,” said Elumelu. “The [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Franchising has become one of the most common routes businesses are taking in Africa. With giant franchises like McDonalds, KFC, ColdStone and the likes, who have their tentacles around the globe, gradually spreading across the continent, it is pertinent to understand that to succeed as an owner of a franchise takes the [...]

VENTURES AFRICA - As hordes of Under 30 CEOs emerge, changing phenomena to norm in African business, the need to equip a vibrant business savvy generation with the necessary tools to create sustainable businesses is of utmost importance. However, the question is: How and at what cost? Diary Of An Under 30 CEO, in its [...]