20 Rising Entrepreneurs in Africa (Part II)

Christian Ngan, Cameroonian

Founder, Madlyn Cazalis

After working in financial services in France, first as an analyst at French investment bank Quilvest Group and as an associate at Findercord in Paris,Christian Ngan returned home to Cameroon to start his own business in 2012. With $3,000 of his savings, he founded Madlyn Cazalis, an African hand-made bio cosmetic company that produces body oils, natural lotions, creams, scrubs, masks and soaps. Madlyn
Cazalis products are sold and distributed across more than 30 chemist stores, beauty institutes and retail outlets in Cameroon and neighboring countries in Central Africa. The company does not reveal revenues but says it is profitable. Ngan, 30, is also
founder of GoldskyPartners Advisory, a small financial advisory firm in Cameroon.

Senai Wolderufael , Ethiopian

Founder, Feed Green Ethiopia Exports Company

The 27 year-old Ethiopian entrepreneur is the founder of Feed Green Ethiopia Exports Company, an Addis Ababa-based outfit that produces and exports popular Ethiopian spice blends such as Shiro, Mitmita, Korarima and Berbere. Wolderufael founded
the company in 2012 primarily to serve the needs of the Ethiopian diaspora in the United States and Europe, but as demand for
Ethiopian spices increased significantly, Feed Green began exporting to new markets within Africa. The company employs only
women.

Eric Kinoti , Kenyan

Founder, Shades System East Africa

The 29 year-old Kenyan is the founder of Shades System East Africa , a $1 million (annual sales) company that manufactures
military and relief tents, branded gazebos, restaurant canopies, car parking shades, marquees, luxury tents, wedding party tents canvas seats and bouncing castles across the region. The company’s biggest clients are non-governmental and humanitarian organizations. Based in Nairobi, Shades System exports its products to Somalia, Congo and Rwanda. The company says it is
profitable and has 18 full-time employees.

Nick Kaoma, South African

Founder, Head Honcho Clothing

South Africa’s own Daymond John in the making, Nick Kaoma is building an urban legend. The 28 year-old Cape Town native is the founder and creative director of Head Honcho clothing, a prominent South African lifestyle brand that designs, manufactures and markets streetwear clothing that is hugely popular among South
Africa’s young urban dwellers. The
company’s product line includes t-shirts and caps to cardigans,varsity jackets, hoodies, tank tops and female dresses.

Ronak Shah, Kenyan

Founder, Kronex Chemicals Ltd

Shah, a 26 year old Asian-Kenyan, is the founder of Kronex Chemicals Ltd, a fast-growing manufacturer of low-cost household cleaning products. Shah founded Kronex in January 2013 and the company
has two products- a dishwashing liquid and a multi-purpose detergent, both of which are gaining market share amongst Kenya’s lower middle-class.

Issam Chleuh, Malian

Founder, Africa Impact Group

Issam Chleuh, a 27 year-old Malian
national and former Ernst & Young Senior Associate, is the founder of the Africa Impact Group , an international organization focused on directing investment to socially and environmentally beneficial ventures, an asset class called Impact Investing. The company’s
services include data & research, news, advisory services, and start-up incubation. Africa Impact Group’s clients include impact investors, private equity firms,
family offices, leading African corporations, governments and nonprofits.

Patrick Ngowi, Tanzanian

Founder, Helvetic Group

Patrick Ngowi, 29 is the founder of Helvetic Group, a company that pioneered the supply, installation and maintenance of solar systems in Tanzania ’s Northern Circuit. Helvetic Solar Contractors continues
to grow. Helvetic did more than $5 million in revenues in 2013 and KPMG East Africa recently valued the company at $15 million.Helvetic is also expanding into the South African region and Ngowi is gearing up to take the company to Dar es Salaam’s capital markets.

Heshan de Silva, Kenyan

Founder, DSGVenCap

After dropping out from school in the United States, Heshan de Silva, 25, worked briefly for a tea exporting company owned by his parents before breaking out to start
VenCap, a business that sold travel
insurance bundled into long distance bus tickets. The company became profitable very quickly, grossing over $1 million in
revenues within its first year and setting the pace for travel insurance for bus commuters in Kenya. He is now a venture capitalist and the founder of DSGVenCap, a company that makes seed investments in the
tech, media, agribusiness and consumer industries in Kenya.

Julie Alexander Fourie, South African

Founder, iFix

At 26, Julie Alexander Fourie runs a
company that employs 40 people and services more than 4,000 clients a month. Fourie is the founder of iFix, which repairs and services all Apple products and Samsung Smartphones. iFix has branches in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. Fourie started the company in 2006 from his dorm room at the University of
Stellenbosch, helping colleagues and friends repaid broken and faulty iPods and computers. Satisfied friends subsequently
referred other Apple product owners in search of repairs and Fourie’s business took off.

Sangu Delle, Ghanaian

Founder, Golden Palm Investments

Delle, 27 is a co-founder of Golden Palm Investments, a holding company that invests in early stage venture and growth financing across Africa with a strong bias for Real Estate, healthcare agribusiness and technology. GPI has backed startups such as Solo Mobile in Nigeria, mPharma in Ghana and Zamsolar in Zambia. He is also the co-founder of Cleanacwa , a non-profit working
to provide access to clean water in Ghana’s underdeveloped regions. Sangu, who previously worked at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Valiant Capital Partners, is currently an MBA candidate at
Harvard.

Uche Pedro , Nigerian

Founder, BellaNaija

The 29 year-old Nigerian media
entrepreneur is the founder of BellaNaija, a thriving new media company that develops online media content for African (primarily
Nigerian) audiences. BellaNaija.com is Nigeria’s premier lifestyle, entertainment and fashion website, and garners an average of 10 million page views every
month.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2014/02/04/30-most-promising-young-entrepreneurs-in-africa-2014/

This post rounds up my piece on the on the 20 Rising Entrepreneurs in Africa.I hope you are inspired and galvanized to do more for your country and continent to solve the numerous challenges berating our continent.AFRICA is indeed rising.

You can follow me twitter:@moses_ayeji

20 Rising Entrepeneurs in Africa (Part I)

"Africa Rising" is a common tag the Western world has used in recent times when refering to our beloved continent.Its an expression that presents the African continent as an emerging powerhouse in the global economy.Across the continent,a wind of change and optimism is blowing,and soaring on this wind are its young generation of movers and shakers who are determined to make a difference and leave a lasting legacy for future generations to emulate.

Its time to celebrate and announce our own versions of Steve Jobs,Mark Cuban,Donald Trump,Larry Ellison and Jeff Bezos.We rarely hear about these African heroes in our own media but its time we project them and tell their stories to encourage others.These stories must be told to let the African youth know that; they and not their governments are the solutions to Africa's numerous problems.Alhaji Aliko Dangote,Dr.Mike Adenuga,Patrice Motsepe and others may be the big guns now but they wont be around forever.

The spirit of entrepreneurship is what will drive and push this continent forward.The very idea that when you start a business,you are not only in to make money, but to provide solutions to existing problems and create jobs for others in the process; is a noble ambition to pursue.

Most of these "rising" entrepreneurs are in their twenties and early thirties and spread across the length and breadth of the continent.East Africa,especially Kenya and Tanzania are experiencing tremendous growth in the number of entrepreneurs and start-ups.In part I of this post,I present ten of them to you and I will present the second ten in a later post.Enjoy the read.

Seth Akumani,Ghanaian

Co-founder and CEO,ClaimSync

Akumani, 30 is a co-founder of ClaimSync , an end-to-end claims processing software that enables hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities all over the world to automate patients’ medical records and to process records electronically. Claimsync’s solution allows these healthcare providers to easily prepare medical claims and send electronically to health insurance companies. In 2013 ClaimSync was the sole African company to participate in the high- profile, IBM, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline backed Accelerator program HealthXL in Dublin. ClaimSync was recently acquired by GenKey, a Dutch-based biometrics company.

Jonathan Liebmann, South African

Real Estate developer, CEO of Propertuity

The 29 year-old South African visionary is the Managing Director of Propertuity , a South African Real Estate development company and the brains behind the construction of the Maboneng Precinct, a thriving cultural district in the east side of Johannesburg’s CBD. Once a neglected and deteriorating neighborhood housing abandoned industrial complexes, Liebmann transformed Maboneng into a vibrant urban mixed-use community complete with Art galleries, artist studios, retail spaces, offices and artist studios.

Tunde Kehinde, Nigerian

Co-founder, Jumia Nigeria

The 30 year-old Harvard MBA grad recently stepped down as co-founder of Jumia Nigeria, the country’s largest online retailer. Kehinde founded Kasuwa, a Nigerian online retailer in 2012. Within days of its founding, Kasuwa received seed funding from German online startup incubator and the company’s name was changed to Jumia. Kehinde resigned in January to start a logistics company.

Adii Pienaar, South African

Founder, Woothemes

Adii Pienaar, 28, is the founder of Woothemes, a company that designs and develops customizable commercial themes and plugins for WordPress. Adii built the business with a bootstrap budget, and the company today generates over $3 million in annual revenues from the sale of its themes. Woothemes also develops and sells themes for other content management systems, including Tumblr. Pienaar also runs PublicBeta, a service that allows successful entrepreneurs to transfer knowledge to new startups.

Zaheer Cassim , South African

Founder, One Way Up Productions

29 year-old South African media entrepreneur Zaheer Cassim graduated from Columbia’s Journalism school and returned home to South Africa to found One Way Up Productions, a television production outfit with a client list that includes Ogilvy South Africa, Hollard Insurance, the African Leadership Academy and Hackett.

Mike Muthiga, Kenyan

Founder, Fatboy Animation

Muthiga, 26, is the founder of Fatboy Animation, a Nairobi-based animation company that produces 3 and 2 dimensional animation for both film and commercial use. FatBoy Animations has produced several viral animated commercials for Kenyan blue chips like brands such as Safaricom, Telkom Orange, Barclays Bank and Jamii Telecommunications (JTL). Danson Muchemi , Kenyan Founder, WebTribe Muchemi, 29, is the founder of WebTribe Kenya, a leading IT company in Kenya with operations in online payment systems, web applications and network security. Webtribe’s flagship company, Jambopay provides e-payments services for e- commerce players as well as e-ticketing services and electronic cash disbursement services. Jambopay is a recipient of the Google Innovation Awards in Financial Services for 2013.

Kunmi Otitoju , Nigerian

Founder, Minku Design

Kunmi, a 30 year-old Nigerian fashion entrepreneur is the founder of Minku Design, a company that makes leather bags for men and women by subtly blending Aso- oke fabric (a hand loomed cloth woven by Nigeria’s Yoruba people), into contemporary leather bag designs. Minku also makes Yoruba-themed leather purses and jewelry. All Minku Design’s products are hand-made at a workshop in Barcelona, Spain, but they are sold at high-end stores in Nigeria and on the company’s website .

Mazen Helmy, Egyptian

Founder, The District

27 year-old Mazen Helmy is the founder of The District , one of the first co-working spaces in Egypt and one of the few in the region. The District provides an inspiring workspace (sitting on a total area of almost 1000 square meters) for entrepreneurs and freelancers. Helmy founded the company in 2011.

Khaled Shady , Egyptian

Founder, Mubser

The 22 year-old Egyptian entrepreneur is the founder of Mubser, a new assistive tool for blind people. Mubser, which was launched officially in March 2014, is a wearable belt with a Bluetooth-connected headset that leverages RGB imaging and infrared dept data captured by a 3D depth camera that allows blind and visually impaired people to navigate around in a safe and easy way. The device recognizes object and obstacles such as staircases and chairs.

Joel Mwale , Kenyan

Founder, Skydrop Enterprises

Mwale who is now 21 years old founded SkyDrop Enterprises, a rainwater filtration and bottling company which produces low-cost purified drinking water, milk and other dairy products in Kenya. In 2012, Mwale sold a 60% stake in Skydrop to an Israeli firm for $500,000. Next stop: Education. Last year Mwale founded Gigavia, an educational social networking website.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2014/02/04/30-most-promising-young-entrepreneurs-in-africa-2014/2/

You can follow me on twitter:@moses_ayeji

GOOD SUCCESS

Joshua 1:8
"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth;meditate on it day and night,so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.Then you will be prosperous and successful."(NIV)

Hi Everyone around the world.Today I want us to look at Success.Hallelujah!!.Everybody wants to be successful at least in one thing or another,nobody likes failing.We have been taught and told so many times in school that to pass our tests or exams we need to study and read our books.Students who adhere to this advice usually excel in school while those who don't usually end up failing.On your first day at work your boss probably gave you a few tips on how to succeed at your workplace.

However,success in school is not a guarantee that you're gonna suceed in life.Some graduated with A's from school but they have D's in life.It's because life is not as simple as you may think it is.Some prominent people who have accomplished a lot in life sometimes commit suicide because they feel they have failed; yet you check their background and records and they have excelled in various ways.

In the scripture above,GOD tells Joshua the recipe for success and not just "success" but "Good Success" as the King James bible calls it,is to confess,meditate and do HIS word.We can apply it to our lives and experience the success Joshua experienced.No challenge will be to be BIG for you,your faith will be resilient to all the negative forces that will try to bring you down.There are three steps outlined in this scripture and the first one is:

*Confession
It says "Dont let it depart from your mouth",that's important because a lot of time we say negative stuff about our lives and set the whole course of our lives on fire.So "Speak the word".....There is power when you speak GOD'S word;it creates the atmosphere of glory and heavenly ambience in your life.WHAT YOU SAY IS WHAT YOU GET!!!!

*Meditation
The second step is meditation;in this phase you're brooding over what you've confessed in your life.You begin to form positive images in your mind (heart) to conform with what you've said concerning your life.Almost 80% of our actions everyday are pre-meditated so you can also premeditate a more positive and successful outlook on your life.

*Doing
Its not enough to speak and meditate;you certainly have to do something by taking steps and the right actions to bring to pass what you've been confessing and meditating on.The interesting thing is this; if you confessed and meditated properly then you'll surely end up doing it......its almost automatic and guaranteed.The desire to do will be so increased by the first two steps that you'll have no other choice but to do what the word of GOD says you should do.

I  encourage you today to put into practise what you've just read and that you'll make GOD'S WORD an important part of your life.

GOD BLESS YOU,YOU'RE A SUCCESS.

Meet the #Girlboss

3 Rules Of Success
That Made Nasty Gal A
$100 Million Business

Sophia Amoruso is the founder and CEO of Nasty Gal, which has grown to a $100 million-plus online fashion retailer with more than 350 employees in just eight years. The following is excerpted from her new book, #GIRLBOSS.I never started a business. I started an
eBay store, and ended up with a business. I never would have done it had I known it was going to become this big. I was 22 and, like most 22-year-olds, I was looking for a way to pay my rent and buy my Starbucks chai. Had someone shown me the future of where
Nasty Gal would be in 2014, I would
have gasped in revulsion, thinking,Oh, hell no, that is way too much work. The name of the company alone should clue you in to this fact — who would have thought that a company called Nasty Gal could be so successful? I sure
as shit never intended to be saying thosetwo words all day, every day, seven years later.
There are different kinds of
entrepreneurs. There are the ones who start a business because they're educated and choose to, and the ones who do it because it is really the only option. I definitely fall into the latter
category. I considered myself completely unemployable, and wanted to give one last shot at my ideal of being "jobless." And boy, did being jobless work for me.
Nasty Gal would have surely failed had it been my goal to grow a business to the size that I have today. When you begin with the finish line in mind, you miss all the fun stuff along the way. The better approach is to tweak and grow, tweak and grow. I call it the
incremental potential. In e‑commerce,you have to get everything right--from
the marketing to the product
descriptions to the checkout process.Because I started small, I think I inherently did that from the beginning.Customer service was my number one priority. A lot of people run their businesses like their customers are dummies. This is a mistake. If you're just out to take their money, they know
it. But if you genuinely care about what you're doing, they will respond.I knew my customers and knew what they liked, because I was my customer.And rather than dictating what I thought my customers should buy and
wear, I listened instead. If I bought
something and they hated it, I moved on. Rather than force my idea of what Nasty Gal should be on my customers, I let them tell me along the way. Nasty Gal felt like the best-dressed girl's
best kept secret — except that it was a secret she really wanted to share. One key to running a successful business is to know how to get free marketing.

Rule number one? That's simple. Justdo a good job.

Through the styling,photography, and voice of the brand, Nasty Gal was an exciting place to shop, but if our customers weren't equally as stoked when they were holding one of our products in their hands, then that excitement lived and died on the internet.I don't take it lightly when someone buys something from me. I know there are a million places where people can buy a dress, a crop top, or a pair of shoes, so I want to make sure that if someone is buying it from Nasty Gal, she feels like it's worth it. We're dressing girls for the best years of their lives, so whether you drop $300 or shop the sale section, I want you to look and
feel like a million bucks.

Rule number two: Keep your
promises.

When girls bought something from
Nasty Gal, what they got in the mail
was just as amazing as what they'd seen online. Customers became not only loyal, but also evangelical. They came back again and again, and shared their excitement with their friends —frequently on the internet. It was the kind of natural word of mouth that can't be bought.

Rule number three: Give your
customers something to share.

Social media is built on sharing, and Nasty Gal was giving girls something amazing to share each and every day.Whether it was a crazy vintage piece, a quote, or a behind-the-scenes photo, we
have always worked hard to create the best and most compelling images, words, and content for our customers.At most companies the person manning the Twitter and Facebook accounts is far from the top of the food chain. But
at Nasty Gal, even though I'm not
always composing every tweet, I still read every comment. If our customers are unhappy about something, I hear it first.
At other businesses, it might take
months for customer feedback to filter up to the CEO, if at all. Social media allows me to have my ear to the ground even when I'm out pounding the pavement. When Nasty Gal joined Snapchat, it meant that I joined Snapchat. I sent out a few Snaps, and our customers responded in force.
There's nothing more thrilling than
sending private texts directly to a
customer and seeing what she has to say in response.Call me crazy, but I truly believe that Nasty Gal is a feeling. And though our community lives in many different
places, it's that feeling that unifies our customers and makes us about much more than selling clothes.

Reprinted from #GIRLBOSS by Sophia
Amoruso with permission of Portfolio/
Putnam, a member of Penguin Group
(USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House
Company. Copyright (c) Sophia Amoruso,
2014.

Entrepreneurship

Its my pleasure to welcome you to my blog.I would like to share some few thoughts and ideas on Business that I think you may find helpful.

I was in conversation with a colleague of mine who complained earnestly about the stress and anxiety that he feels everytime he has to wake up and go to work and that he felt the need to establish his own firm since this will give him more freedom.He did share a few ideas that I thought ,could make him earn about four times his salary if he were to implement them.There are so many young men and women out there with brilliant ideas but lack the real guts  to act  on them.So who is an entrepreneur?
"An entrepreneur is someone with a vision of a better aspect of the world,who decides to act on his ideas,incurring risks in the process with the hope of making profits"Entrepreneurs come in all ages,color and races.
So why dont people start up their own businesses?
It's due to FEAR.The fear of taking risks,fear of failure, and fear of leaving the comfort zone of being paid every month.Our country and continent is in dire need of brave young entrepreneurs who will step up and provide employment for the masses out there.I mean forget about Bill Gates and Co., right here on the continent,Young Africans like: Rapelang Rabana, Patrick Ngowi, Lorna Rutto and Justin Stanford,have all become millionaires in their 20's by acting on their ideas."In the book of Ecclestiastes,King Solomon writes"He who looks at wind will never sow",so if you're waiting for 5years,10years or 15years, someone else is gonna implement your idea before you know it.So start working on your ideas from this moment and dont procastinate.

THE RIGHT BUSINESS FOR YOU

Basic fact is, everyone can be an ENTREPRENEUR but not everybody can be or will be a SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR.Failing or succeeding in business depends on some basic factors.First of all you need

*Understanding

Proverbs 4:7 tells us "Get wisdom and in all thy getting,get understanding".
NEVER EVER GO INTO A BUSINESS U DONT UNDERSTAND EVEN IF IT LOOKS PROFITABLE.You'll be disappointed!!Before you embark on any business venture,make sure you understand your personality and make sure you understand the business.Your personality and your business should be mirror images of each other.Understanding is key when starting a business and understanding will help you run it in its first few years when things may get tough.

*Simplicity

Second factor is to look for simple business ideas that require less capital expenditures and less technical expertise.An intelligent man I admire in the person of Warren Buffet always states that he never "invests outside his circle of competence".Many of the youth today want to start an Oil and Gas business but dont realise the tremendous capital,expertise and risk involved.So go for simple ideas that you can easily implement and run.This is one secret to becoming wealthy:

-find a product that people need

-Will require less capital to make

-Can be sold at a price that majority of the population can afford and

-will not fade out for the next 20 years or more regardless of the competition that will arise.

*Expectations Management

When you start get an idea regarding a particular area of business you want to venture into,and it's such a great idea;you're bound to feel the adrenaline rush.You may get excited and end up building unrealistic expectations so that when things dont go they way you want it to,you become discouraged."Expect nothing and you're wont be disappointed"....of course you need to expect some growth but bottomline is dont be overly expectant or you'll end up in the mud.

The Bible tells us specifically that "be not slothful in Business" and so GOD is very much interested in  the success of our businesses.Below is a list of exciting business ideas :

-Solar Energy : that is very important looking at the energy situation in the country and on the African continent as a whole.

-Hospitality and Tourism: More and more foreigners are coming into the African continent everyday for vacations and business purposes and its a good area to make headway.

-Food Services:Food is essential to our everyday lives.There are lots of food joints and restaurants in Africa but few great brands and franchises.Africa needs its own versions of McDonalds,Burger King,Starbucks and KFC.

-Publishing and writing:
Well if you love writing like I do then this is a good area for you.TV and Movie production houses are in dire need of exceptionally talented writers who can produce great scripts.

-Mobile Money Services:The use of mobile payment systems are getting popular in most parts of Africa such as Kenya,Tanzania,Nigeria,Ghana etc.

-Health Services
With the continent facing serious infrastructural challenges,health services have become very important.These include ambulance services,supply of medical equipment and provision of medicinal supplies to hospitals and health institutions.

-Transport Services:Efficient,reliable and decent transportation facilities would easily woo customers into patronising your services.

-Private Security Services

-Banking and Financials:
Its amazing that with all the banks avaliable 60% of the population still dont have bank accounts.That presents a great opportunity.

These are just a few ideas and you can look out for more ideas on your own.Young Kings and Queens, its time for us to step up and create wealth for ourselves and for our generation.
When you've finally decided what business idea you want to pursue,lets look at some procedures to get you started on your road to wealth creation.

1.Business Form
Decide which form you want your business to take.Whether u want a Limited Liability Co.(LLC),a partnership or a sole proprietorship.Each one has advantages as well as disadvantages so just adopt the one that you think will suit you as well as your business.When you have decided,you then go ahead with the registration of your business.

2.Financing
Now this is the important as well challenging aspect.In other to harvest money you need to plant money.Capital is the fuel for your business,without it your car(business) cannot start.So as a virgin businessman your only source of finance are savings,angel investors,venture capital or loans from family and friends.The banks will not risk giving credit to you due to your inexperience but it shouldn't discourage you because when your business begins to grow,the banks will come looking for you.

3.Marketing
Ok...you are now ready to get started.Marketing ur business or products is important because customers need to know wht you're offering,they need to know why your products are unique from those on the market.

4.Human Capital
You are the commander of ur ship(business) and you cant steer it alone so you need hands.Hire two or more talented people to help you out but dont hire too many people than you need or else you will may have too much to deal with.

5.Patience
This is a very necessary virtue you need in order to succeed in business.Your business may not starting making profits immediately but you need to be patient and strategise a bit more.If you quit and move on to another business you may encounter even more difficult challenges.