#gew2012

[gewrwanda2012-blog]

Some moments from the Office's open house event yesterday. Courtesy of artist Roldan Rolands. See more photos, here. 

[gewrwanda2012-blog]

'The KIST Entrepreneurship Club event during #GEWRwanda was attended by more than 105 university students learning practical tools to become successful Entrepreneurs.' ~ Ntwali Ivan via Facebook.

[gewrwanda2012-blog]

Celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week in Rwanda 

DURING the week of November 12 to 18, millions of people in 125 countries are participating in over 37,000 events to encourage people worldwide to celebrate the power of individuals with ideas to drive sustainable economic growth.   

Global Entrepreneurship Week will connect young people everywhere to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that “the Obama Administration is dedicated to boosting entrepreneurism both in the United States and in other countries where talent is widespread, but opportunity often is not…. Global Entrepreneurship Week reflects a sense of collective responsibility to encourage young minds to pursue fresh ideas and unleash the full range of human potential.”   Innovative young people need to have the freedom to take risks.  As business owners or as experimenters, they need the chance to learn from mistakes and start again.   Thomas Edison conducted more than 10,000 failed experiments before turning on the first incandescent light bulb.  Milton Hershey faced three unsuccessful starts before satisfying the American sweet tooth with the product that bears his name.  Even Steven Jobs confronted failure when Apple fired him from the company he created—only to welcome him back to transform the marketplace once again, this time with the iPod and iPhone. Entrepreneurs here in Rwanda are following the trend. Women like Gloria Kamanzi Uwizera are taking their ideas and moving forward with business plans. Kamanzi, an alumna of a U.S. embassy exchange program to the United States, has taken her inspiration from batik art and is expanding her GLO Creations fashion business here in Kigali. Martine Umubyeyi, a macadamia grower and owner of Macadamia Hotels, is expanding the resources for entrepreneurs by working with others in the field to start the country’s first African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program Alumni Association.  Rwandans understand the importance of entrepreneurship for a strong country. But it takes more than individual initiative for entrepreneurship to succeed. Wise political leaders and economic managers understand the value of supporting entrepreneurship.  They know that even the most daring risk takers need confidence that the merit of their ideas and effort will affect the profitability of their products and services.  They know that young entrepreneurs are often women and others traditionally outside the economic mainstream of their countries.  They know that these entrepreneurs often have strong ties to their communities and make civic contributions such as promoting education, supporting charitable organizations, upgrading local infrastructure, advocating environmental protections or encouraging responsible stewardship of natural resources. Local businesspeople can start gleaning new ideas this week: the U.S. Embassy in Kigali is sponsoring two entrepreneurship workshops in Kigali and Gisenyi for the next wave of Rwandan entrepreneurs. Globally, as we apply the lessons learned from the economic downturn and restart the engines of growth, we will need to turn to the entrepreneurs in our societies and unleash the potential created by their own experiences with both success and failure.  Global Entrepreneurship Week gives us the chance to assess where we are and to move ahead and make this potential into reality. The author is the U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda

[gewrwanda2012-blog]

Click on the image to have a look at the GEW Rwanda Daily!

[gewrwanda2012-blog]

Arne Forstenberg giving a lecture in front of 700 youth at the Adventist University of Central Africa  

[gewrwanda2012-blog]

A glimpse at GEW Rwanda's Opening Celebration which took place on November 12 2012. 

[gsotimeisnow-blog]

Something is happening in the Triad, and it has all to do with Greensboro's rising entrepreneurial minds coming together for the inaugural "Time is Now" Emerging Entrepreneurs Festival.  A big shout to the great folks at Mad Monk Interactive, who were huge in making this happen.

[gsotimeisnow-blog]

First dose of reality

Written by: Arthur

In 2012 there seems to be a lot of things that tend to be more expensive to do than they once were.  The cost of fuel, utilities, food, you name it seems to be forever on the rise.  Maybe this was the part of growing up, that our parents warned us about when we were coming up.  Where they would tell you not to grow up too fast, to enjoy the days of youth where you had very little worries in the world. 

You see I’m a dreamer; I’ve always been one.  At the age of eight-years old, I realized that I’m a leader, and that one-day, in some way be my own boss.  That everyday I would wake up feeling fulfilled, because I was going to be doing something that I truly loved to do.  I would put on my suit, pick up my briefcase and head to my office andtry to take over the world go run my company.  The thing that our parents knew that we didn’t know as children was the introduction of the misfortune or fortune (how ever you want to look at it) of the “real world”.  Debt is a major key player in what we know as the real world.  Something I know all too much about; upon graduation, my tuition balance will probably be in the range of a base model luxury vehicle.

Something I didn’t think much about when we were 8, is that it actually takes capital to start a business.  Just an idealistic concept isn’t going to cut it in the loan office. A lot of recent grads are paying on their tuition bills, and other living expenses, and don’t make a lot of income.  With the financial strain that is taking place within our own economy, there aren’t a lot of institutions that would be willing to take the risk on a young person with little to no collateral.

Millions of young dreamers nationwide are looking for is a solution to that.  The natural thing to do when faced with a problem is a way to conquer it.  The old cliché saying, “if there is a will, there is a way”, is the answer.  As the late Steve Job’s said in his 2005 Stanford commencement address, “Stay Hungry, stay foolish”.  You have to have the faith in your company that everything is going to workout some how, some way. 

Arthur is a student at North Carolina A&T State University, where serves as the student and young professional liaison and entrepreneurship ambassador.  He can be reached by email at [email protected]