Entrepreneurship: What Must Young Africans Do Differently?
Image of Kennedy Ekezie with some members of the executive board of the African Students Union.
Africa House was delighted to sponsor NYU African Student Union’s event on entrepreneurship in Africa.
Overview:
On October 2, 2019, NYU’s African Students Union hosted an event to discuss entrepreneurial opportunities for growth in Africa and how young people of the African diaspora can tap into these opportunities. The event organizers planned to include two speakers, Isanya Yunge and Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph, who would share their experiences as young Africans building businesses and social enterprises in Africa.
Flyer for the event.
Speaker Bio:
Isaya Yunge is the founder and CEO of SomaApps Technologies in Tanzania, which created SomaFiti - a smart bracelet that focuses on the future of health and well-being of the African community, and SomaApp: a mobile app that is disrupting how scholarships are offered in Africa. Isaya and his team came up with the idea after seeing how many domestic and international scholarships go unclaimed each year because young people are simply unaware of them. After collecting information about each student’s academic qualifications, SomaApp matches students with the scholarships that they qualify for globally. More than 15,000+ students are currently using SomaApp daily and 550 students have won scholarships through SomaApp. Isaya won the prestigious Queen's Young Leaders Award from Her Majesty The Queen of England. He was named by Forbes Africa as Forbes Africa’s 30 Under 30 in 2018.
Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph is an entrepreneur who founded the Calabar Youth Council for Women’s Rights: working in 10 African countries to end the practice of female genital mutilation. He recently built Africave, a platform that connects young Africans to global opportunities and connects Africans in the diaspora to opportunities on the continent. Kennedy is the youngest Nigerian to win the highest awards in honor of two British monarchs: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, and Princess Diana. He is a fellow at President Obama’s Young African Leadership Initiative and was the first Nigerian to be accepted as a Yenching Scholar. He has spoken on 80+ platforms including a keynote address the United Nations Youth Assembly and 2 TEDx events.
Images of the presenters.
Photo Credit: NYU African Students Union (ASU)
Post-Event Report from the African Students Union:
On October 4, 2019, Kennedy Ekezie visited the African Students Union and discussed with our members the meaning of entrepreneurship and the value of investing in Africa. Ekezie is the youngest Nigerian to win the highest awards in honor of two British monarchs: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, and Princess Diana and has won President Obama’s African Leaders Fellowship. In the panel, Ekezie discussed the company he recently built, Africave, which focuses on connecting young Africans to global opportunities and connect Africans in the diaspora to opportunities on the continent. He explained the value of young Africans buying African products, investing in African businesses, and going back to create projects that will benefit the African community. Ekezie also explained how as young Africans we need to understand that Africa has the potential to become an economic powerhouse if our leaders can make better decisions for our people and if we are able to grow our economies without relying too much on the help of outside countries like China. This boils down to young Africans learning the cultures of Africa, understanding African political systems, and to have the courage to create a project that will benefit African communities. Even if the project fails, we must analyze the downfall, create a way to combat the problem, and try a different approach. This is how young Africans can build businesses in Africa, grow our economies, and contribute to the African market. Though Isaya Yunge was unable to attend the event, Ekezie was able to teach ASU members valuable lessons about business and we are very grateful that NYU Africa House was able to help ASU to have a professional event like this.
About the NYU African Students Union (ASU):
The African Students Union exists to provide a means for the meaningful discussion, exploration, and celebration of all things politically, socially, and culturally African. We want to create an environment on campus where people who are educated on African topics or wish to be can come together to have fun, discuss and enjoy a variety of African dishes.