SENet: Student Entrepreneurs Network

SENet (Student Entrepreneurs Network) exists to discover and develop young entrepreneurs from school and beyond. They aim to change students' mindset to become job creators consistently and effectively promoting entrepreneurship in all high schools, tertiary and professional institutions in Ghana and Africa as a whole. SENet is affiliated with The African Network Of Entrepreneurs (TANOE).

If you're a budding entrepreneur or simply have an interest and want to know what it's all about, I encourage you to check out their website for more information. Alternatively, you can see them in action during their Student's Summit of Entrepreneurial Ideas which takes place on Friday 12th August at Zenith College.

WFP: Ghanaian Women Go Into Business To Tackle Goitre

World Food Programme reports:

Fatima Fuseini and her business partners sit around a table filling plastic bags with rock salt and sealing them with a packing machine. It’s tedious work, but Fatimah says it’s some of the best work she's ever done.

She and the other women around the table are their own bosses and the salt they're putting in packets belongs to them.

“We’re in business,” says Fuseini. “We sell our salt at the local market and we use the money to buy the things we need—like food.”

Fuseini and her partners weren’t always entrepreneurs. Like most businesses, theirs required know-how and capital to get off the ground. They received both through a WFP nutrition programme, which first gave them training in business management and then provided the seed capital they needed to get started.

The investment came in the form of [iodised] salt, a vital commodity in places like the Gbumgbum region of northeastern Ghana where iodine deficiency has reached endemic proportions.

78 per cent of children in Ghana are anemic, and the proportion of women isn't far behind. To help combat malnutrition, WFP has launched a project to teach mothers the importance of micronutrients and train women to produce products like [iodized] salt. Find out how you can help.

Some 56 per cent of adults in Gbumgbum suffer from goitre—an inflamed thyroid gland—which is caused by a lack of iodine.

Iodine deficiency is also the leading cause of preventable brain damage in children worldwide. It’s estimated that iodizing salt protects over 91 million children per year from severe mental impairment.

Fuseini and her group resold the salt WFP gave them and used the returns to go into the salt business for themselves. In the process of marketing their wares, they’ve also become activists raising awareness about the importance of consuming enough iodine.

“Cooking with [iodised] salt will prevent you from getting goitre and will help your children to grow up strong and healthy,” says Fuseini.

Africa: Open for business like never before

Here is an excerpt of an article from Africa - The Good News, a website I have found to be a great resource over the years. It was written by Carol Pineau, a film producer, director and journalist. She talks about various entrepreneurs - including our own Ken and Keli! - and how they have contributed to the African society. You can have a look at the whole article here (although it is slightly repetitive, it's worth the read).

Africa's new generation of entrepreneurs show extraordinary ingenuity. They are determined visionaries who find solutions to seemingly impossible challenges and strive to succeed against all odds. Not only are they pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps. They are pulling up an entire continent as well.

The stories of Africa's entrepreneurs are the stories of Africa's heroes. While the media focuses on adversity, they are missing another great story: that of Africa's entrepreneurs who are busy getting down to business.

Take for example Ken Ofori-Atta and Keli Gadzekpo, founders of Databank, an investment group in Accra. The two are ivy-league educated Ghanaians, had top jobs on Wall Street [and with KPMG], but left in the early 1990's to return to Ghana and be part of building the nation. A few years later they launched Epack, Ghana's first mutual fund, which invests in more than half of Africa's stock markets and averaged a whopping 60% annual returns since the fund started.

One of their friends, Hermen Chinery Hesse, a software developer creates software specifically produced to withstand hot and humid climates. He is now launching a new business, Black Star Line, an African version of Paypal, and already has several million dollars backing his venture.

Nearby is Kingsly Awuah-Darko, who came up with new wire transfer technology that is faster and more versatile than existing services. The company, Money Systems International is giving Western Union and Money Gram a serious run for their money. Awuah-Darko explains that with newer technology he was able to leapfrog past long-established competitors to a far more functional and versatile system. The company started in 2002 with about $700,000 transferred that year. Within five years, the total in transferred was over $140 million. Awuah-Darko predicts within the next few years his company will be transferring over a billion a year.

These aren't just Africans solving African problems. Databank's E-pack and other investment services have helped Africans invest in Africa's markets, but also allowed international investors to get into the high-growth phase of Africa's nascent markets. Chinery Hesse's software is good for computer users in Africa, but also for those in any hot and humid climate. Black Star Line will help Africans to buy and sell products [and] also facilitate individuals and companies from all over the world to trade with Africa. Money Systems International doesn't just help Ghanaians in the diaspora to send remittances back home, it also helps Pakistani diaspora, Afghani diaspora, and more.

What is most impressive about today's entrepreneurs in Africa is their determination not to be stopped by even the most insurmountable road block. Ask most people to put a nail into a plank of wood and they will ask for a hammer. If there is no hammer, most will give up. Ask these entrepreneurs and they will say, "Here is a rock, there's a brick, I have my shoe."

Read the entire article here.

An inspiring youth story from Yemen

I've just read an uplifting story of five Yemeni youth who have rejected stereotypes typical of those around them and are actively participating in ensuring a better life for themselves and others. Enjoy!

In three years and nearly a dozen visits, yesterday was the most inspiring day I’ve had in Yemen. I saw something that made me truly optimistic for the future of the country, in the form of five teenage guys that are competing in a regional competition for the Best New Business. They’ve already developed their own company, Port Mokha, exporting genuine Mokha Coffee from Yemen; what was even more surprising was the variety of their talents beyond business acumen.

INJAZ, the organization running the competition, is a regional organization that supports young entrepreneurs throughout the Arab world, and this team representing Yemen was headed to Morocco for the competition. Their enthusiasm was contagious – they were bright, ambitious, motivated and confident.

They developed Port Mokha coffee company with training and guidance from INJAZ. Here’s their sales pitch: “We offer the world top-notch Yemeni coffee from the high mountains of the Southern Arabian Peninsula…With every sip of this authentic brew, we offer our customers a unique and satisfactory cultural and sensory experience.”

Their product isn’t just about the coffee (which I’m sure is the best) because part of their business model is a commitment to give back to the community and a sense of civic responsibility. The coffee comes in a cloth bag made from traditional Yemeni fabric that is made by an income-generating association employing the mentally disabled; part of their profits will be donated to the association.

To everyone’s surprise, two of them started beat boxing and rapping in mix of Spanish, English and Arabic. The song spoke of cross-culture acceptance, the mixing of language and tradition, and a sense of strong pride in their country. I was speechless. In a country where the dropout rate for kids 8 -14 years old is more than 80 percent, where illiteracy rates are among the highest in the world, and where chewing qat (a mild narcotic leaf) is the national pastime, it was inspiring to see their creativity and initiative.

They may not win the competition in Morocco, but I know they won’t be discouraged and will continue to invest in themselves and their country. I walked out with two bags of coffee and an undeniable sense of hope.

(Source: CIPE blog - Danya Greenfield)

Technology & Development

We are, as they say, in the age of the computer. To many, it seems strange to imagine keeping in touch without mobile phones, or looking for information without the internet. With technological advances come many different possibilities for advancement... to save time here, to make more money there. Smart phones are becoming more and more common place, bringing with them a wealth of applications that support a vast range of functions. Technologies are now able to work in a synergy with each other - phones with the internet, mp3 players with maps and satellite navigation, even watches serve as USB data storage systems these days. All these allow for an increased free-flow of information which is crucial to development.

Developing countries are often cited as being technologically backward, and (perhaps more often) lagging behind their more developed counterparts. Encouragingly however, increasing numbers of people are realising the benefits of technology and are becoming more and more innovative in its use. Even better, individuals in developing countries are adapting this technology and making it work to solve their specific problems and address their needs.

The question about technology is not whether or not it brings benefits - because for the most part, those are clear for all to see. To some, technology is simply a means by which to make life easier. To others, it has become an absolute necessity. Can we then say that technology is absolutely necessary for development? In cases such as areas of rural Zambia were the internet is allegedly more accessible than clean water, you have to wonder whether priorities have been set correctly, if at all.

This is not to say that these targets should be made at the expense of technological advancement. In some areas, mobile phone technology is being used to save lives, and to say advances in technology should be scrapped in favour of other 'more important' issues would be foolhardy. Where then, do we draw the line?

Some would say there is no need for such a line to exist. If, for example, there is a way of using one to achieve progress in another, that would optimise benefit for all concerned. An example of such a case can be found with Zack Matere, a Kenyan potato farmer - and from what it sounds - a would-be entrepreneur and philanthropist as well.

The 50 Kenyan shillings (about 66 US cents) he spends a day accessing information on the internet each day proves to be too expensive (or as some might say, frivolous) for the majority of people in his local community. Recognising the benefits and potential for advancement that can be gained by the wealth of information online, Zack plans to post useful information (on agriculture, health and education) on his local information boards.

"The internet is quite an individual pursuit. But a noticeboard is more of a group thing", he explained to the BBC. "So if I post an item on a noticeboard on potato disease, for example, the community can read it, talk together and come to a decision."

You can read more about Zack's story here. It is this kind of innovative thought that can propel development in rural and even urban areas, even if this can only initially be achieved by taking baby steps.

Young Entrepreneurs Competition 2010

Morning all! Hope you've had a great weekend. I'd like to draw your attention to Sukuma Afrika's Young Entrepreneur's Competition. Here is some information about Sumuma Afrika from their website:

Sukuma Afrika (Zulu for “Stand Up”) is a forum to facilitate networking, dialogue, information, mentoring and access to finance for entrepreneurs with projects in Africa that impact the millennium development goals – the 8 UN goals to half poverty worldwide by 2015.

Sukuma Afrika, was established in support of the UN Stand Up Campaign in recognition of the critical role young entrepreneurs and the Diaspora will play in the fight against poverty as the generation that will be responsible for reaching the Millennium Development Goals in 2015.

Sukuma Afrika works with young entrepreneurs interested in Africa’s development and achieves this through partnerships with the United Nations’ Millennium Campaign, corporate partners and investors committed to supporting the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals in Africa.

The competition encourages African youth (up to 35 years of age) to come up with a for-profit business model that would contribute to achieving one of the Millennium Development Goals. The deadline for submissions is Monday the 28th, so you'll have to hurry if you want to enter. For more information, see here.

Thanks to David Agbenyega, one of our senior mentors, for the heads up.

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Don't forget to show your support for ONE's campaign and encourage the G8 leaders to commit to train 3.5 million health workers by 2015 in order to prevent maternal and child mortality. Click here to sign up!

Go Black Stars!!

ImagineNations Network

One of our senior mentors, David Agbenyega, has just come across the ImagineNations Network. It's an organisation that links up young entrepreneurs to a network of like-minded groups, mentors and supporters, as well as providing information, tools and resources.

As well as helping you to find a support network, ImagineNations Network (INN) can also help you to grow your business, save time, make an impact, and cultivate your skills. You can read more about how it works here.

You might be interested to know that INN is hosting a $10,000 Business Plan Competition for entrepreneurs, for which there will be prizes for those coming in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. More details here, or check out their website.

Thanks for your contribution David!

Go Black Stars!!

A Library Success Story: 'The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind'

After a discussion between Elinam Adadevoh (YLMP Programme Manager) and Adobea Akuffo (Senior Mentor), I've decided to post an amazing story of a boy who was inspired to do great things by a book in his local library. Here is a short review:

"William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi... a country plagued by AIDS and poverty. Like most people in his village, his family subsisted on the meager crops they could grow, living without the luxuries — consider necessities in the West — of electricity or running water. Already living on the edge, the situation became dire when, in 2002, Malawi experienced the worst famine in 50 years. Struggling to survive, 14-year-old William was forced to drop out of school because his family could not afford the $80-a-year tuition.

Though he was not in a classroom, William continued to think, learn — and dream. Armed with curiosity, determination, and a book he discovered in a nearby library, he embarked on a daring plan — to build a windmill that could bring his family the electricity only two percent of Malawians could afford. Using scrap metal, tractor parts, and blue-gum trees, William forged a crude yet working windmill, an unlikely hand-built contraption that would successfully power four light bulbs and two radios in his family’s compound. Soon, news of his invention spread, attracting interest and offers of help from around the world. Not only did William return to school but he was offered the opportunity to visit wind farms in the United States, much like the ones he hopes to build across Africa.

A moving tale of one boy’s struggle to create a better life, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is William's amazing story — a journey that offers hope for the lives of other Africans — and the whole world, irrefutably demonstrating that one individual can make a difference." (SOURCE)

Kudos to William Kamkwamba for his courage, innovative spirit and determination to see this project through from start to finish. It is encouraging to see that young people are interested in learning, and can (and do) get information from books. It makes the work we're doing at Kinbu seem all the more relevant... who knows how many budding 'Williams' we have amongst us?

You can read an article on this story (including details of how William created water pumps and introduced solar power to his community) here. Aside from the book, a documentary and a Foundation have been created in William's honour.