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Tag Archive for: entrepreneurship

FASTECH promoting Nigerian entrepreneurship education

The FCT Agency for Science and Technology (FASTECH) is currently partnering with an international NGO, Junior Achievement, to promote entrepreneurship education in primary and secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, Nigeria.

Woman holding plaque from Junior Achievement

Yelwa Baba-Ari, FASTECH Director, says their relationship with Nigerian NGO, Junior Achievement, should promote entrepreneurship. (image: file)

The partnership will include setting up clubs and organising entrepreneurship competitions in schools. Yelwa Baba-Ari, FASTECH Director, said yesterday building entrepreneurial skills is part of the agency’s mandate.

“If you expose them to entrepreneurship by the time they finish secondary school, they can assist their parents in paying the school fees,” she said.

“A lot of them are not exposed but this gives them confidence be it in communication or leadership skills and builds confidence in them to face the challenges of the society. We will partner to make sure that the schools become awake to its importance. We will collaborate with you to do competition for the students and to see that we establish clubs in more schools.”

Stressing on the importance of acquiring entrepreneurial skill, Baba-Ari said government in this country was a major employer of labour but now the economy encourages people to be on their own.

Segun Adekoye

March 2, 2012/by actualize

Business Enabling Environment, Economic Growth & Trade, Enterprise Development, MicroEnterprise Development, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Why immigrants make great ICT entrepreneurs

Photo: Zelalem Dagne

Zelalem Dagne had spent the past twenty-five years in the United States, but the thought of returning to Ethiopia continually intrigued him. Eventually, with some prodding from friends and co-workers, he returned. What he saw surprised him; the country was ripe for development and for new businesses, Dagne explains. Despite his initial urge to “do everything,” he focused on one problem in Ethiopia—delays in product transportation—and started a new business.

Dagne applied for and received a matching grant from USAID and Western Union’s African Diaspora Marketplace, allowing him to officially start Global Technology & Investment PLC. His company provides affordable GPS trackers to businesses that transport their goods in Ethiopia. The GPS trackers are attached to trucks, allowing business owners to monitor the efficiency of their truck drivers and the ensure prompt deliver of goods. Additionally, drivers can monitor traffic with the devices, allowing them to avoid traffic jams, check-in consistently with headquarters, and report back when goods are delivered. Dagne’s Fleet Management System is planned to be used in over 60,000 trucks.

In addition to strengthening business productivity in Ethiopia, Dagne’s company facilitates more national trade and makes Ethiopian businesses more attractive to foreign investors and international businesses. His company, then, contributes to Ethiopian development, allowing Dagne to give back to his home country through his business practices.

Dagne spoke ten days ago at a USAID-sponsored Microlinks seminar. Leaders of the African Diaspora Marketplace accompanied Dagne; representatives from USAID and Western Union also spoke on the program. The marketplace funded 14 projects last year, 5 of which are in the ICT sector. This year, in phase 2 of the marketplace program, there is a particular focus on ICT businesses.

Logically, immigrants and refugees would be ideal entrepreneurs in their own nations. They understand the business practices and technological developments present in the United States, and understand the needs of a particular country in the developing world. Their experience in both nations gives them unique vision. They see the differences between the places and what holes in one area can be filled by a solution from another country.

Additionally, ICT projects are particularly powerful in developing countries. The United States invests more than any other nation in research and development of ICTs. And as demonstrated by the rapid expansion of the mobile phone around the globe, “appropriate technologies” are quickly adopted by the developing world. Though the likelihood of the African Diaspora Marketplace funding the next mobile phone is highly unlikely, it is probable that the entrepreneurs funded by the marketplace will bring technologies already common in the United States, and integrate them into societies in their home countries.

July 22, 2011/by actualize

Business Enabling Environment, Economic Growth & Trade, Enterprise Development, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Workforce Development

Planting CEEDs of Growth in Moldova with ICTs

The ICT sector is one of the most dynamic in Moldova’s economy. Recording a vibrant growth over the past years, today it represents nearly 10% of the national GDP, on par with agriculture production.

There are about 40,000 people employed directly and indirectly in ICT, making the ICT sector one of the major employers in Moldova. It is also one of the highest paying industries, as jobs in ICT pay on par with those in the financial sector, historically the best paying jobs in the country. Most importantly, the ICT industry employs the young generation, offering an exciting, fast-growing and rewarding career for the next generation.

Moldova has already chosen the pathway of ICT. All players – the Government, the business community, the citizens and the ICT industry itself – have acknowledged the importance of information technology as a catalyst for growth, and as a tool of growth enhancement in all other economic sectors.

Technical assistance from USAID Moldova through the Competitiveness Enhancement and Enterprise Development (CEED) project over the past five and a half years has enhanced the competitiveness of the ICT sector through initiatives meant to consolidate the quality of companies, to strengthen ICT education so that it meets the needs of business, and to align the industry towards common goals.

Just last month, USAID Moldova sponsored the Moldova ICT Summit 2011, featuring the Association of Private ICT Companies in Moldova, as well as the recently launched national E- Government Center. The event focused on the e-transformation of the Moldovan economy, and the importance of e-transparency, among other topics.

Since the initiation of the first phase of the CEED project, USAID Moldova has been involved in numerous efforts. They facilitated the formation of the Association of Private ICT Companies in Moldova, established relationships between the national government and the private companies in the ICT sector, helped private firms to become IT-Mark certified ICT companies under CMMI methodology (encouraging foreign investment and trade), and set up talks respecting the formation of a “Cloud-Moldova” e-government system.

Additionally, a need for more trained and educated IT professionals in Moldova has arisen. To meet this need, USAID Moldova connected the Moldovan Minister of Education with large ICT firms. The ministry signed memorandums with Microsoft, Cisco, and i-Carnegie (Carnegie Mellon University). New IT focused courses and degrees are being offered in the Moldovan education system, providing the ICT industry with the professional staff it requires.

A man and a woman watch as a man repairs a computer.

Photo: Sergiu Botezatu

Despite these advancements, a few large boulders block continued development of the ICT sector in Moldova. The national government’s telecommunications company, Moldtelecom, still controls the majority of the market. Additionally, Moldova is unknown in the region as a destination of IT, this holding back investment. Thankfully, however, steps are in place to remove these barriers. The national government is beginning to investigate selling Moldtelecom and a strategy for ICT sector positioning and promotion is underway, which is intended to put Moldova on the regional and global ICT map.

June 29, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Access and Applications for Development

For the past several years there has been a virtual explosion of mobile networks across both developed and developing countries. According to a recent ITU Report, Measuring the Information Society – 2010, at the end of 2009, globally 67 out of every 100 people were mobile subscribers. For developing countries the numbers are 57 out of every 100—and growing. The following graphic extracted from this ITU report shows the growth since 1998.

Within these numbers lies another somewhat hidden dynamic;

Worldwide there are already more mobile Internet subscribers than fixed Internet subscribers, and
This is supported by the market moving towards “smart phones.” For developed countries the computer has been the dominant Internet access device. For developing economies it is rapidly becoming the smart phone.

And with these dynamics come a number of rich opportunities for USAID as well as the larger international development community—opportunities for the most part that are just now starting to be explored. These include:

Micro-Small Business Entrepreneurship—this mobile-smart phone-Internet ecosystem provides a rich opportunity for USAID to support the launch or strengthening of a local mobile application development industry. This is replicable across countries, has low entry costs for entrepreneurs, is quick to market, and has near-instant countrywide market scale. By its nature, it favors local development and content, with strong employment opportunity for youth.

Local Content Development—typically mobile applications are not only localized with regards to native languages, but also local with regards to content. This creates an even a broader opportunity for local entrepreneurs and job creation—for both applications and content.

Public-Private Partnerships—the rich mobile-smart phone-Internet ecosystem is made up of handset manufacturers, mobile carriers, development toolset companies, hosting firms, etc.—all with local and international engagements. Adding USAID and local government participation simply expands this ecosystem faster, further, and places a targeted focus socioeconomic development.

Sector-Specific Applications—for USAID’s various sectors, be it health, education, government, agriculture, etc., this ecosystem provides a rich low-cost platform for developing highly targeted solutions with rapid nationwide scale and with this, expanding USAID’s impact.

These, along with other dynamics reflect an expanding opportunity currently being explored by USAID where the Agency can provide a critical catalytic role to accelerate adoption. A growing number of related blogs and documents posted on the GBI Portal provide additional information and examples of this exciting dynamic and its potential within the Agency’s development portfolio.

March 2, 2011/by actualize

Tag Archive for: entrepreneurship

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