Tycoon Diary Archives

Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho, Ever-Passionate Leader Striving Hard To Scale African Enterprise Since 2008 at Future Software

Innovative, passionate, result-oriented, and a seasoned Information Technology professional, Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho, CEO, Future Software Resources Ltd. has navigated through a 15-year journey of cross-sector industry experience in Nigeria, Africa’s largest emerging economy.

Because of her outstanding efforts and leadership as a fierce leader spearheading the company’s flanks, this leading lady has been recognized as an Obama African Leader, Forbes’s Top Ten Female Tech Founders in Africa, Global Digital Women top 10 Most Inspiring Women in Africa, Lionesses of Africa top 100 Women and Ventures Africa 42 most Innovative Africans.

Nkemdilim combines strategic, digital technology, and operational experience with a deep understanding of business transformation, change leadership, and risk oversight. She has designed and led strategy and implementation of digital marketing & digital transformation projects across Africa, resulting in enhanced customer experiences, customer acquisition & bottom-line growth, optimized and more cost-effective operations, and a more digitally skilled labour force within the organisations she has worked with.

Her entrepreneurial background, involvement in the global and pan-African Technology landscape, and a focus on building the Nigerian Technology ecosystem through enabling policy development, investing, education and mentoring, affords her a deep understanding of cutting-edge innovation, emerging & disruptive technologies, as well as access to a large network of technology leaders, policymakers and investors across the continent and globally.

She is also an experienced Non-Executive Director across not for profit, private and listed companies. On the boards she serves on Nkemdilim is trusted for her attention to detail, the ability to identify key issues and provoke deeper discourse to unlock alternative viewpoints.

Futuresoft & its Exclusive Service Portfolio

Futuresoft is a full-service digital agency & IT Solutions company, providing a broad range of business solutions for the scaling African enterprise, to consistently attract and retain its target audience. Futuresoft has over 13 years of experience in designing and managing digital properties and online activities of businesses across various industries.

Their understanding of technology, lateral thinking, and process-based approach allows the team to provide tailored, innovative, and sustainable solutions for businesses; empowering them to leverage all relevant channels to improve user experience, increase customer engagement and grow profits. The goal is to build lasting relationships and function as part of the customers team to achieve overall company success. Their two core service areas are:

Digital Marketing & IMC

The combination of our individual services by our team of strategists, content writers, developers, and analysts create a full suite of integrated marketing and communications with a well-coordinated approach. This combination is a well-blended mix of creative campaigns, animations, video production, digital advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), and search engine marketing (SEM).

Digital Transformation

At Futuresoft we help you build out your Digital Transformation Roadmap. We empower our customers with smarter ways of doing business and frictionless ways of delivering a great customer experience to their customers. We bring years of experience across various industry sectors, as well as a wealth of experience in deploying digital technology solutions to the table, providing ways for our customers to maximise value creation across asset and operations lifecycles while improving profitability.

From the CEO’s Desk

Some of the major reasons that influenced my decision to be an entrepreneur are:

Wanting to put African businesses on the digital map and ensuring that African businesses are able to harness the opportunities Digital provides.
Wanting to build a life that allows me the freedom to manage my time, build my dreams, and create an impact.
The challenge that is entrepreneurship

The Clientele

The clientele includes private sector and government organisations as well as nonprofits and associations predominantly located in Nigeria. It is particularly well suited to work with the:

Scaling Business: the services are aimed at businesses in the growth or expansion phase that are already profitable; they are not the ‘best fit’ for most startups.
Result Driven Business: When companies are interested in setting clear measurable goals and meeting objectives, they do the best work.
Doubtful But Willing Business: When clients have already worked with other agencies that have underperformed, it creates a healthy challenge for the team to deliver the best results.
Business With Audacious Goals: They do their best work with clients that have big dreams and huge goals. It’s exciting for them to work with companies that want to disrupt their industries and dominate their market.

Nkemdilim Uwaje further apprised, “We focus on delivering excellent work and exceptional service, which sets us apart from many other agencies. Our cross-industry experience combined with in-depth marketing and technology experience allows us to build strategies and design campaigns that are aligned with business goals and deliver results.”

The Team & Corporate Ethos

Future Software’s vibrant and multi-dimensional team is led by Founder & CEO, Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho, who provides leadership to the team and ensures high-quality technical work across all Futuresoft projects. The team is composed of experts in strategy, marketing, content, web design, graphics, branding, lead generation, ad campaign management, website development, SEO, and more with the right experience across multiple industries. The Futuresoft family values are anchored in excellence, integrity, customer centricity, continued learning, resourcefulness, and teamwork.

Major Hurdles & The Support System

The company has gone through multiple difficulties over the years, like:

Finding the right team
Creating adequate processes that support growth
Creating brand visibility and brand awareness within the right target segment

“It is said, “10 years of hard work make you an overnight success” …to sum it up, drive, discipline, diligence, and determination are the keys that helped Nkemdilim in her growth journey.

Creating a more Balanced and Equal Industry

Ensure gender diversity and gender parity across the board – from board level all the way down to entry-level.
Invest in the ecosystem – especially in the area of Digital Skills development
Get involved in policy development

Future Roadmap

Nkemdilim Uwaje is looking to expand the executive training offering as well as deepen the Digital Transformation consultancy practice. The team is very excited about building out their executive training academy for C-level executives and board members who are learning to navigate the digital world.

Favourite Book

The Alchemist – because it teaches key lessons on finding your why, pursuing your dreams and enjoying the journey.

Favourite Quote

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

A Piece of Advice for Female Entrepreneurs

Work hard, deliver excellence, document your journey, pay it forward, build and nurture the ecosystem, build your personal brand and gain visibility, position as a thought leader – have fun and enjoy the journey with its mountains and its valleys.

The power of a purpose-driven company: Phillipa Geard

The popularity of ‘purpose-driven’ companies has grown exponentially over the past decade, and for a good reason. Historically, businesses exploited every opportunity for the sole purpose of maximising profit for shareholders. That said, as a spotlight has been shone on the reckless exploitation of natural and societal resources for profit, more companies have begun the process of self-examination and internal change.

Today a growing number of business owners realize there’s real value in creating a purpose-driven company, and in supporting suppliers with which they can align their values. Here we ask the question, what does a purpose-driven company look like and why does it make sense to ensure that your business is backing brands that are led predominantly by purpose.

What does purpose look like in practice?

A purpose-driven company stands for something bigger than its products and services. So, how does a business successfully put purpose into practice? For RecruitMyMom founder and CEO, Phillipa Geard, the first step in creating a purpose driven company was to identify a significant need in the market, and then to address that need. “When starting my business, I identified a significant gap between the skills market and skilled mothers’ need to be employed with some measure of flexibility to allow for space for family responsibilities.” She explains, “Hence with RecruitMyMom purpose came first, profit second.”

This speaks to the point that purpose shouldn’t be something a company plugs in as an added extra. Rather, it should be something around which a brand is built, and it needs to run deeper than a motto or mission statement. Let’s take a closer look at why clients prefer to support purpose-driven companies.

Purpose-driven companies create long-term sustainable performance

When a company’s purpose is clear, its vision is relatable. Clients trust companies who operate closely to their purpose. Phillipa explains how purpose has driven repeat business with RecruitMyMom’s clients, “Companies that use our services to hire skills, all subscribe to the company purpose, and will keep on returning to RecruitMyMom whenever they need skilled women to add value to their businesses.”

Purpose streamlines decision-making

A company’s purpose guides all decision-making. Each business decision should be weighed against the company’s purpose to see if it brings you closer to the goal. “Our business’s purpose of giving women dignity through work, guides all decision-making.” Phillipa confirms, “This helps us to easily identify business opportunities which fit into our business strategy, and empowers us to better serve our clients.”

Purpose fosters loyal staff

A clear purpose will attract like-minded people to the company. The most effective teams operate with a common goal in mind. Phillipa Geard explains what this looks like in her team, “At RecruitMyMom, every person placed in a job is cause for celebration.” She says, “We measure our success at the end of each month in ‘number of lives touched.’ This measure is a motivator for our staff, as everyone treats the company purpose as a personal purpose.” When staff members work towards a shared vision, it influences and fuels every other aspect of the business.

Purpose helps to drive your business forward

Having a clear company purpose that resonates with the entire team is what drives a business forward and can guide innovation within the company. “At RecruitMyMom, there is continuous energy around solutions to support more women through innovative recruitment solutions. This has meant that through the tough times of job losses and pay cuts, RecruitMyMom has remained steadfast.” Phillipa Geard explains.

Authentic purpose, authentic results

Purpose-driven companies are led by principled people. These leaders are authentic in everything they do. They walk the walk instead of just talking the talk which means their companies deal with staff and clients honestly and with integrity.

When purpose is viewed as a foundation on which a business is built, it creates a deeper connection with staff and customers. Purpose-driven companies deliver value beyond a product or service, they achieve great results and are rewarded with continued loyalty from their staff and customers they serve.

This article was supplied by RecruitMyMom. We operate nationally in South Africa, and globally for virtual assistants.

Growing Your Business Post Covid -19: Morenike George – Taylor

I think a lot of business owners will agree that a lot has changed in the business world after the pandemic. A lot of businesses had to close down and the few that remained still needed to create innovative ways to survive. For some restaurants and hotels that meant starting online delivery for their food items. For others, it meant holding online consulting meeting with clients as opposed to physical meetings and changing physical conferences to online conferences.

On the other hand, some businesses boomed during COVID – 19. Businesses like E- learning platforms, Online Food Delivery, NETFLIX and Zoom were in the perfect position to grow due to the pandemic. Pharmaceutical companies also made money from sale of face masks, personal protective equipment and drugs people purchased due to panic and fear. The secret of success for businesses here was that they were in the right position in the market. At the Flux Group, we created a business, County Support which partnered with a local mask production company and sold over two million locally made face masks at cheap prices to Nigerians and helped businesses cope with the effect of the pandemic and adapt. If your business wasn’t ready to attend to customers from their homes or supply products and services necessary for survival, it may not have been able to adapt to take advantage of the economic situation created by the pandemic but there is no reason why your business should be left out of the post – pandemic economic boom.

I have itemized a few tips on how I think businesses can survive and thrive in the post – COVID -19 economy:

Prepare to think out of the box: All this time we have had a lull in business, should have been used and should still be used to create new ideas and schemes on money making from our business. At Flux, we used this time to find international partners for our real estate company Taylor’s Realties which now sells properties in several countries around the world. If you’re a law firm consider creating an online legal consulting chat box on your website. If you’re an event planner, find the best online apps for hosting events, synchronize them with music and food vendors and give your guests an unexpected experience. Are you a physical store? This is the time to consider becoming an online store. This is the time to try something new, improve your product and hit the market running.
Invest in marketing: If you had never taken marketing seriously before, this is the time to take it seriously. Now the world is more of an equal playing field and those with big stores can’t oppress those with online stores. Many people can’t and wouldn’t leave home and so online purchases have increased. If you can invest in a good digital marketer, you can forge ahead and hit the targets you need to.
Reduce costs: This is the time to analyse your business and reduce your costs, if you’re not using all that office space, reduce it and sub-let. You may need to downsize your staff, you may also need to cause members of staff to play more than one role. You need to look at your business and cut off all the extra luggage you have been carrying around.
Look closely at your profit margins: If you pay close attention, you would observe that some things have become more expensive post COVID-19. These price increases could affect your raw material cost, transportation costs, storage costs and more. The incidences of items getting lost in the mail have increased and as a result, so would the cost of insurance and these can all affect your price margins. The increase in margins affected our business Foodworths as the price of food skyrocketed. We couldn’t have the sales we used to do regularly, we actually had to increase prices. My advice to you is this: I know you do a 20% off sale every September, but the question is, can you really afford to right now? Never take your eyes off the bottom line.
Lawyer up: If your business didn’t have a lawyer before, this is the time to get a good legal infrastructure. You would need to ensure that your insurance contracts are reviewed to cover pandemics, strikes, riots and natural disasters. You would also need legal advice on how to disengage employees, negotiate lower wages and pay offs. Good legal support will help you follow up on contractors who don’t pay you and try to rely on force majeure clauses in your contracts. This is the time to actually review all those force majeure clauses in your contracts. Good legal advice is something every business owner needs.

I could go on and on about how to help your business thrive post covid if we had more time, alas we don’t and its time I say goodbye. Be that as it may, I think you should be very proud of yourself if your business survived the pandemic because a lot of businesses didn’t. The journey from here to success may not be an easy one but it would be worthwhile. Even if you lost your business during the pandemic, study the market, you would see that a lot of new businesses sprouted from the remains of those that died. Zoom has brought the world closer and people can now do business across borders better than they did before.

In the words of that great philosopher ‘if at first you don’t succeed? Try, try and try again’ With persistence and perseverance, a sprinkle of hardwork and a dash of good luck, you would overcome and achieve your dreams. Form a good reading habit and read books that develop you as an entrepreneur, learn about sales, profit margins, business in general and work hard towards a better tomorrow.

Tips to Women Entrepreneur before the Entrepreneurial Journey Starts: Annabel Biggar-David

How can we advance female entrepreneurship and what can we do to stop the backslide?

ABD: “Governments need to realize the importance of women entrepreneurs in their economy and to inspire entrepreneurial attitudes. Women in business, sometimes feel invisible. African Women have a voice that can no longer be silenced. We are wanting to be the change and help create employment. But it starts with young girls at home: instill in them a love for reading and learning which will lead them to a sense of curiosity about the world. As the sayings go: “Little girls with dreams become women with vision” and “It is easier to build strong children than repair broken adults”. Government needs to create links between women entrepreneurs and corporates. Have these corporate giants pledge their support to include women entrepreneurs in their supply chain and governments to be equally committed to keeping those conversations alive. For a successful African woman, it is your duty as a woman to help another woman. When women support each other, incredible things happen. I do mentor a handful of women in business including our female staff complement and recommend they participate in great accelerator programs that are funded by the government. To women, I would recommend learning the basics of business, study, read, job shadow, ask for help. Use what is at your disposal, visit internet cafes and google, programs are waiting for you to sign up with. In South Africa, an organization called Seda will help you with your business idea and help turn it into a reality.”

What would be your advice to women who want to start a business?

ABD: “Remember start-ups default state is a failure, as an entrepreneur we have to work to un-fail it. In business we mistakenly think it’s all about that great idea, it’s not. Everyone has ideas. The most successful companies are founded on a combination of frugality, wise spending, customer service, and superior products. Always spend wisely. Don’t go broke trying to look rich. That’s a mistake lots of entrepreneurs make. When you buy things, you don’t need soon you will have to sell things you do need. Do you know that 85% of your financial success is due to your personality, ability to communicate, lead and negotiate? Only 15% is due to technical knowledge. Don’t get me wrong, KNOW, ABSORB, BREATHE and LIVE every aspect of your business but it brings it back to this. People buy People, not products. They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Hustle like hell. I’ve begged, pleaded, and borderline harassed editors of magazines for free editorial. I hand-wrote letters to every single person who appeared on the tv show Undercover Boss USA, Dragons Den UK, Richard Branson, and every other successful person I admire asking for tips and mentorship.

As a women wellness entrepreneur what do you think is the most important skill that has helped you build your brand?

ABD: “Compassion! Knowing we are serving a purpose greater than ourselves. We have a great company culture and I personally strive to be flawless and impeccable with my word with my employees and customers. As women, our default state is to help and nurture. Honest, raw, and real conversations, exposing one’s vulnerability has opened many doors for me. I keep my values front and center. I believe Ego will destroy one. I am an open book, transparent about myself, my life, and my products. Persistence has taken me places, not talent or genius or even education. In business integrity is everything. Generosity and kindness go a long way too. I do not take the smallest gestures for granted as they speak the loudest. Being quite self-aware and
prioritizing personal development and that of my team, their development, and becoming the best versions of themselves is integral to my leadership style. I try and encourage strategic thinking, innovation, and action. This is the rainbow nation and we ensure to practice effective cross-cultural communication. I coach, motivate, and lead by example. I have a responsibility and need to develop others to succeed in their roles and prepare for future roles. Other roles include being a facilitator, strategist, visionary, a shoulder to cry on, a life and work coach but also being able to make tough decisions. Also, my company is a 100% black women-owned business and all of us come from disadvantaged backgrounds and gender bias- an inequality- is not a challenge we face as a company.”

Kate Bohn: Stepping out of the Usual

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected industries adversely, yet the business must go on. During such difficult times, we, as in the business world, are in a need of innovative leaders to rely on. One such young and inspiring businesswoman is Kate Bohn, Incubator & Accelerator lead at Lloyds Banking Group.

In an interview with Tycoon Success, Kate talks to us about her inspiring journey of becoming an award winning evangelist. Her unique ideology and exceptional methods have led her in achieving many milestones in her pathway. She wishes to cement the ‘Technical Women in Leadership’ network which she co-founded for a much-needed, psychologically-safe space for senior female practitioners in the tech and FS industries. Moreover, in the future she also plans to co-edit a book.

Tycoon Success admire such businesswoman and take pride in featuring Kate in its latest issue, “The 10 Young and Inspiring Businesswomen to Watch.”

Below are the highlights of the interview:

Into the Shoes of Kate

Growing up with a migrant lifestyle across both hemispheres of the globe has helped Kate to attain a resilient approach towards change. Initially, she straddled the creative world and science/math avenue in terms of her interests and capabilities, which resulted her acquiring an undergraduate degree in both Art History and Chemistry, for a secure future career path into academia or art conservation.

Initially, Kate came across an awful roundabout of attempting to move industries where she did not have enough experience for the position or was overqualified for the role. She solved this conundrum by taking various contract roles which offered her an opportunity to experience a number of different employers before taking on a permanent contract. “A ‘try before you buy’ on both sides”, says Kate.

One such role was with an American operation called Citigroup Global Investment Bank, and there, her interactions whilst visiting senior management from global headquarters in New York, led her being asked to build out an innovative platform offering customer online access to equities research content and create profiles/alert notifications. Eventually, this grew into the primary digital access channel for the Bank.

Kate states that the ability to interact with sales personalities and traders, research analysts, clients, to travel, all the while creating a space in which both buy and sell-side actors could have the complexity of their roles simplified, automated, analysed and nudged using technology and data-driven metrics was an exciting proposition for her. She also states that this opportunity resulted in her entry in the industry massively labelled as “Fintech”, “customer journeys”, and “problems to be solved.”

Defining Success Differently

“There are so many lenses to success for me – not just the traditional markers of money or titles,” says Kate.

Kate believes that, while measuring success, one must understand that the mental and physical health are foundationally important. She also believes that the ability to have quality spare time and to be involved in an activity that one can really get behind in terms of impact and purpose, surrounded by people working together in mutual respect, is priceless.

This approach was not only game changing in a period of time where ‘digital’ was still to be fully understood. It remains in play today and she is incredibly proud of all the colleagues and partners involved in bringing that original vision to life.

On the basis of her past achievements and experiences, she believes that ‘success’ will often be wrapped up in the ability to action and execute on outcomes that offer simplification, time saving and ease of use/engagement for any consumer. It is also important to her that this is achieved without negatively affecting future generations or creating negative consequences, albeit unintended, for the current social or economic welfare of all.

“My ego would also like to note that the ability to have made a difference in the fact that I took on a role or undertaking, shaping it in my own unique approach, rather than it was merely completed, is also in there somewhere!” asserts Kate.

Principles One Must Follow

Kate believes that soft skills have always been key for her growth in the industry, especially the ones that can be learnt but are often more authentically core to an individual’s personality and make-up. She seeks to build strong teams with high engagement levels in supportive and positive environments where obstacles are tackled with trust, transparency and appropriate levels of risk. The certain principles she admires as her ‘top three’ are empathy, curiosity, and influence without authority.

“The drivers of my unconscious motivation are deeply rooted in ‘imposter-syndrome-meets-perfectionist-meets-try-harder-and-carry-on-regardless.’” quotes Kate.

She also notes there are many leadership styles albeit some may feel ‘better’ than others to each individual in execution or engagement. However, Kate states, every style has its place in a leaders’ toolkit, flexing across the spectrum of ‘autocratic’ to ’laissez-faire’ as a situation demands or unfolds.

Kate believes that one characteristic every leader must possess, in the current Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) and amid the Covid-19 pandemic, is enhanced curiosity. By quoting an old Chinese proverb ‘the wise adapt themselves to circumstances, as water molds itself to the pitcher’, Kate asserts that an agile leadership may be the ultimate requirement for leading today/ tomorrow’s talent, underpinned by the core characteristic of constant curiosity that our ever-changing world demands.

Advice to Rely on

In this particular excerpt, Kate emphasizes over the advice presented to her on her way to success. She states that the drivers of her unconscious motivation are deeply rooted in ‘imposter-syndrome-meets-perfectionist-meets-try-harder-and-carry-on-regardless.’ Below are few of many pieces of advice she adapted and moulded herself for the better approach, in her own words:

“These elements (or Life scripts as Taibi Kahler would define them) are fabulous motivators in respect of propelling me forwards and to succeed, and yet the flip side of this is that I regularly hold myself to expectations and standards that are significantly higher than anything I would ever apply to colleagues or peers. As part of a recent 360 feedback session, I was advised to STOP doing this, and so I am working on becoming more intentional on wrapping that insight into the primary advice I use on a daily basis: “Yes, if….”

“Yes, if….” should be used in place of any phrase that starts “Yes, but….” This phrase was introduced to me by Vicki Lintern (then working at Salesforce, and now with Temenos) in respect of creating better, braver outcomes – be that public speaking engagements, new ways of working/ collaborating, or simply retaining curiosity and an appetite for the art of the possible. If you never say ‘yes, if….’ you’ll never know just how supported, empowered, confident and valued you can feel while you deliver courageous work and outstanding results.”

121Advisor: Redefining customary Business ways through Digitalization

In an interview with Tycoon Success, Kevin Steer—the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of 121Advisor, emphasizes over the exceptional journey put forth by the company of achieving many milestones in its pathway. Its flagship product which is also to be the all-encompassing solution provider known as ‘Customer First Connected Enterprise Digital Framework’. Driven with strong motive, thus quoting “we don’t follow trends, we pioneer them” the company has paved a strong stature for itself to march on.

Through this special issue, “Recommended Insurance Tech Solution Providers For 2021,” Tycoon Success shows its gratitude and appreciation towards the contribution made by the 121Advisor in the business world.

Below are the highlights:

Products to Rely On

Kevin states that over the past 10 years the company has implemented many disruptive online solutions including Referral Management with Marketing Automation (for Banks), Mobile Point of Sales, Online Direct Selling, Online Claims, Agency Distribution, Online Customer Service Portals & Corporate Websites. He also emphasizes that with the growth of AI & chatbots; 121Advisor implemented disruptive solutions including multilingual Chatbots & Robo Advisors along with AI based Predictive Analytics / Machine Learning for predicting New Products, Lapsation, Fraudulent Claims & future predictions for Investment Funds.

Into the Shoes of the Leader

Being experienced and having worked in the insurance & takaful sector for years, the Chief Executive Officer states that 121Advisor’s mission was to provide disruptive InsurTech & FinTech solutions for insurers, takaful operators & banks. As a CEO & a ‘techie’, Kevin has always been looking for new disruptive solutions to continue evolving the business. It all started with his working for an Artificial Intelligence Company in 1986, which piqued his interest in AI. Kevin states that when 121Advisor started seeing the evolution of Chatbots, Robo Advisors, Predictive Analytics, Behavioral Intelligence & Robotic Process Automation—the company started researching on AI solutions and the team implemented 24×7 multi-lingual Chatbots, Robo Advisors for lifestyle financial planning, as well as implementing Predictive Analytics solutions for predicting new products to buy, lapsation of policies, fraudulent claims & future grow/decline of investment funds; which are integrated with RPA solutions to trigger workflows to notify the relevant people. Moreover, he highlights in the year 2014 the company became profitable and 121Advisor used the profits for R&D on developing new disruptive solutions. Here is a graph that shows the company’s growth over the past decade.

Overcoming the Challenges

Kevin addresses the fact that as most millennials in Asia Pacific do not understand financial planning, and often max out their credit cards and get into debt; there is a need to help educate them on their lifestyle financial goals and recommend products that they can buy online. With the launch of u12know, he states that one might see that this will become a disruptive knowledge portal offering advice on lifestyle financial & (in future) health goals. Making them understand their needs and create a plan to help them build their lifestyle & business financial plans. “For each country, this will be translated into the local language,” quotes Kevin.

During COVID-19 pandemic, 121Advisor saw the need to offer financial services and health services online with lifestyle financial & health advice. Kevin and his team recently launched a knowledge portal u12know (www.u12know.com) in Malaysia, that provides lifestyle financial advice—for single, married, family, retired & my business. This will continuously be extended to include lifestyle financial goals with recommendations for financial and business products, including company’s multi-lingual chatbot & Robo Advisor—which provides advice on financial goals.

A peek into Key aspects

When asked about the factors of the company which helps business, Kevin emphasizes over some key aspects which are listed below, in his own words:

Referral Management

He states that a bank in Malaysia, wanted his company to deliver a Referral Management solution in 3 months, this included defining KPIs for each product, interfacing with back-end sales, and synchronizing status of agents daily, then auto assigning to the relevant sales agents based on the referral product required. 121Advisor delivered the solution and went live in 3 months, currently used by 6,700+ users referring an average of 170,000 referrals per annum.

Mobile Point of Sales for Insurance

He mentions that one of company’s insurance customers wanted an agent mobile sales solution delivered in 4 months, this includes product setup, quotation, and proposal, auto-underwriting and online submission to the insurer—121Advisor delivered the solution and went live in 4 months currently used by 700+ Agents across 3 insurers.

Agent Distribution Solution

With its agent distribution solution, Kevin states that a number of Agent Leader Corporations (ALCs) wanted company to compute their commissions, bonus; then based on n-tier hierarchy, manage the performance and track KPIs for agent promotion / demotion—depending on whether they met their targets, including integration with their insurance/takaful companies. Once the ALC managers approve payments, it makes online payment direct to the agents. Then 121Advisor delivered these solutions in 2 – 4 months, based on the integration requirements with the insurance/takaful company, currently utilized to compute 2,000+ agents across 4 insurers.

Customer Service Portal

Kevin addresses that the Customer Self Service Portal is an on-demand access point enabling customer to view their insurance/takaful account, anywhere and anytime. This enables the policyholders to view their policies and certificate details via a simple internet connection. The portal provides a safe avenue for customers to update their personal information, pay premium, switch funds, print documents, update beneficiary details, request policy changes and engage in filing claims and processing, which traditionally would take weeks to be executed due to siloed lines of business. The platform also supports automated workflows that are triggered by certain customer activities which are routed to relevant departments and customers are kept informed via emails or messaging. “Providing a portal for your customers with the convenience of self-servicing, customers can enjoy the freedom of doing what’s convenient for them, when they want anywhere,” says Kevin.

Predictive Analytics Models (PAM)

121Advisor solutions focus on predictive marketing & sales, customer service, new business underwriting, personalization and claims management to build Predictive Analytics Models (PAM) for Banking, Insurance & Takaful.

Multi-lingual Chatbot for Financial Insurance & Takaful (FITbot)

Kevin states Multi-lingual Robo Advisor and chatbot that utilizes hybrid trees and natural language processing (NLP) to engage with customers to offer a more personalized customer experience and generate more referrals. He also mentions company’s 24×7 multi-lingual FITbot which has benefits such as:

It changes the way people think about customer engagement.
It reduces customer service costs by up to 40% by implementing 24×7 intelligent bots.
It delivers personalized customer experiences by proactively understanding the customer via real-time lead scoring algorithms and providing a personalized interactive user experiences.
Its personalized experiences generate more warm leads that can be routed to financial advisors, live chat direct marketing, or direct online purchase.
It leads continuous improvement using machine learning algorithms that adapts to changes in topics and conversations over time.
When it cannot answer a question, it directs to live chat customer support.
Its predictive personalization rules engine enables companies to quickly configure their financial product recommendations based on lifestyle goals and identified needs.
It integrates with sales tools and customer databases via secure authenticated APIs.

Choices Online Store (COS)

Kevin states that through Choices Online Store (COS) insurers and takaful operators can provide direct purchase of products online. It also can integrate with Multi-lingual Chatbot for Financial Insurance & Takaful (FITbot) robo-advisor services as well as referrals via Referral Management & Marketing Automation (ReMMA). Also, the Choices Online Store (COS) allows insurer and takaful operators to leverage a mix of technological innovations from the Enterprise Digital Framework and allows carriers to configure their online products through the Enterprise Product Configurator (EPC) and offer directly to consumers via WebPortal Solution (WebPoS). It also allows businesses to setup a product catalogue, via customizable product page templates, for categorized and convenient research on multiple product comparisons to enhance the selection process. Kevin also asserts that online buyers are allowed with benefit and cost comparison, quotations generation, online purchase and e-payment for convenient purchase process. The sales are guided with needs analysis based on client’s financial needs and lifestyle, so clients make informed decisions. If clients need hands-on advice FITbot can help them guide through the process or get connected with e-advisors online. The e-advisor can be registered with the chat service which can help track KPIs and referrals for performance management

Ralf Parfuss: Transforming business with a Decisive Approach

Meet Ralf Parfuss, the Chief Executive Officer of Connect.it, whose unique ideologies and methodologies have led him and his company to its current successful stature. His decisive nature and driven by implementing innovation to transform the traditional custom ways. Through quoting, “It is not about being the best, but being better than you were yesterday,” he emphasizes over one’s ability to be persistent and march forward for the greater good. He suggests many a book by Daniel Kahneman titled “Think fast and slow”, which he believes is exceptionally brilliant to understand functioning of whole life.

Tycoon Success admire such leaders and appreciate Ralf’s contribution in the evolution of business. The magazine takes pride in featuring him in this special issue.

Below are the highlights of the interview:

Into the Shoes of Ralf

Ralf mentions, at the age of 45, he was already an exceptional manager specializing in IT and IoT projects and start-ups with their finger on the pulse. As a visionary, he follows his inner drive. He prefers and sees the big picture, can imagine what it is like when you change things and implement his visions and ideas in his company with persistence and a culture of innovation. As a free and lateral thinker, he succeeds in identifying and solving problems in an incredibly creative way and through various means and ways.

His will to personal commitment is unruly in the foreground. Driven by a thirst for knowledge, he is never satisfied with simple answers. His extensive network of contacts, which are mutually beneficial, proves his decisiveness also existing ideas of other people are taken up and improved. His vision is to forge new paths, to question previous “truths” and to confidently and independently commit to something. Ultimately, he often trusts his intuition and cannot always explain everything down to the last detail. He instinctively follows his nose and is mostly sure to be on the right track.

In the year 2019, he was honored as one of the 10 best CEO’s. As IoT enthusiast he founded 2014 among others the company t-matix with the first programming free IoT platform worldwide, already before the IoT market was born. In order to make his start-up a success, he was convinced that it was necessary to bring in the know-how and clout of an international player and sold t-matix to this company. Due to his experience, technical competence, creativity and implementation skills, he has a good eye for markets and technology and is someone who recognizes at an early stage needs and potential and brings an idea to implementation. Countless contacts to major players and experience in the field of financing and M&A take all projects to a great success. Driven by a thirst for knowledge, Ralf Parfuss is never satisfied with simple answers. How can you do something better? Why does something not work, or: If A works, B should work too – such questions and considerations are typical for him. His main principle is to have fun at work. This is the only way to successfully implement products and projects. Right from the start, the focus is always on the conclusive definition of goals and well-structured business plans in order to be able to measure progress afterwards.

Products to Rely On

Ralf states that with connect.it he and his team are specialized in business development of digital products in software, telematics and IoT. Whilst, these technical skills combined with its ERP and process knowledge cover all necessary and mandatory things to be successful. A wide range of small companies but also big international players trust in its developing small to huge products and projects, which are predominantly of a technical nature. In the past few years, company have implemented more than 100 IT projects. Currently it has successfully supported the establishment of a large cell phone operator and a company with toll and traffic management, but also implemented telematics products for OEMs and large construction companies, and not at least, it has created and developed the world’s first independent and programming-free IoT platform within t-matix. Moreover he states that the company is planning and executing the visionary orientation of several start-ups, mainly supporting and connecting their products with revolutionary IoT processes., most exciting is the realization of an unprecedented invention.

The company works for small startups up to large international companies. He states that the overriding principle is to gain trust in its work with openness, honesty and handshake quality. “Even if things don’t go well, you have to address things openly and solve them together,” he adds. The company focuses on the goal and the solution, technology is always challenging and has no place for a culture of claiming. Connect.it counts on its team with extensive know-how and a lot of experience as well as all the necessary resources for successful implementation, which are:- Visionary orientation and creativity combined with technical know-how- Financing and operational processing including controlling- Marketing and Design- Software and hardware development- Project implementation- Operations and support- High M&A experience

Well-led Team Ralf states that to be based on an equal footing and appreciation always have top priority, and thus the focus must be on people. He and his always try to promote the strengths of every employee and at this point it is important to understand that not everyone can do everything, but that strengths have to be evaluated first. Further he states, the team with the right skills and responsibilities needs to be aligned. He and his team achieve fairness by working out and setting goals with every employee from individual employees to top management. “Only under this circumstances an employee has the chance to reach a successful day-to-day work,” says Ralf.

Overcoming the Challenges

“Growth is the primary challenge,” quotes Ralf. It sounds very simple, but the challenges are that every employee has the right work orders on the table every morning, that the goal is clearly defined and that everybody has the chance to go home after a successful day with the feeling that he or she has brought the company a step forward again. He states that in particular, leading across multiple levels is extremely difficult for managers. As defining goals and good communication is the key to success yet, this is often underestimated and creates a lot of problems for employees. He also emphasizes that the key to success is to focus on the goal and get everyone on board with power and enthusiasm. “But above all the right team and people around you who can be relied on are crucial. And even when things don’t go well you have to learn to hand over responsibility,” he states.

The company has won many awards and attained many achievements, are mention below:

2017 Telematik Award Gold
2018 DIGITAL Impuls Award
2019 Telematik Award Gold
2020 Top Smart Cities Provider in Europe
2021 Top List in Telematics

Advice worth Appreciating

Ralf advices that one must take time for his/her team and management to develop a clear strategy. One must also define targets and milestones with KPI’s that can be measured. “In the next step synch and communicate with your team and review the progress at least monthly,” says Ralf. Further he states that excellent co-operations with good partnerships are the key, especially in the complex tech area one need to scale. “You can reach this goal with great partnerships and the right planning,” he adds.

Scott Graeff bringing unique perspective and business acumen to Luna and under his guidance

The world around us changes every day. To succeed, businesses must be able to quickly adapt to new challenges and pivot accordingly; in unexpected times, having strong leaders in place to navigate through the challenges can make all the difference. In the context of the global pandemic, skilled leaders are a critical factor for success; acting as a steady hand while continuing to drive growth. One such reliable leader is Scott Graeff.

Scott serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Luna Innovations Incorporated. Luna (NASDAQ: LUNA) is a leader in optical technology, providing unique capabilities in high-performance, fiber optic-based, test products for the telecommunications industry and distributed fiber optic-based sensing for the aerospace and automotive industries. Scott brings unique perspective and business acumen to Luna and under his guidance, the company has grown and is thriving.

Tycoon Success admires such exemplary leaders and appreciates their contribution in the growing and evolving business world. It takes pride in featuring Scott Graeff in its special issue entitled, “The 10 Most Inspiring CEO’s to Watch in 2021.”

Becoming a CEO

Scott originally joined a division of Luna Innovations in 2003 and held a variety of positions until being named President & Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors in 2017. However, it is his background and past experiences that both inform the way he thinks and how he runs the company.

Scott grew up outside of Philadelphia, PA and attended the University of Virginia, earning a BS in Commerce. Before attending university, Scott served in the United States Army’s 3rd Infantry, “The Old Guard,” where he was Commander of the Relief at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery and a guard to the President of the United States during the Reagan Administration. Importantly, it was his time in the military that shaped such an significant part of his leadership style and work ethic. “This experience formed the foundation of my character. I would say my military background contributes to the disciplined, intentional and thoughtful planning and execution of my ideas to this day, “adds Scott.

Prior to joining Luna, Scott worked in a variety of organizations, driving value as partner at a Virginia-based venture capital fund, and as a co-founder of a software technology company that was later sold to a Fortune 500 Company. He also held senior roles in a variety of financial institutions, completed several public offerings and was involved with mergers and acquisitions with a notional value of more than $8 billion.

Focusing on Strategy

When appointed CEO in 2017, one of the biggest challenges Scott faced was assessing all of the assets that made up Luna, confirming the company’s strategy, and then aiming the business toward where its core capabilities gave the company the best competitive advantage. To do so, he focused Luna and its operations on what it does best –fiber. “We believe we have a technology, using fiber, which is proprietary, cutting-edge and unrivalled. We divested some of our non-core businesses and acquired some that expanded our capability within our sweet spot. Now, with a clearly defined vision, “to enable the future with fiber” we are poised for growth, both organically and through acquisition.”

Innovative Solutions

With Scott’s guidance, the Luna team has spent a good portion of the last three years, focusing their portfolio on its capabilities around fiber, where they have strength and differentiated value. With a superior product portfolio in sensing, testing, measurement and control solutions, the company believes it is extremely well positioned to take advantage of mega-trends such as light-weighting, electric vehicles and increased demands on data centers and broadband capacity, such as 5G.

The shift to using lighter weight materials, like composites, in aerospace, automotive and within structures such as bridges, dams and tunnels, is continuously growing, as is the drive to build smart infrastructure. “What we are doing with fiber within our sensing vertical, how we are using it as the sensor itself, can be likened to the central nervous system in your body, describes Scott. “Fiber optic sensors are the ‘nerves’ of smart materials, and our products are the ‘brain’ that collects and aggregates data from these fiber sensor ‘nerves. Essentially our products can detect any strain, temperature, or structural changes in structures within which they are embedded. “

For Luna’s communications test vertical, increased data and video consumption is pushing the need for more accurate measurements to accommodate higher speeds. Its products provide unprecedented visibility at the component level and within short-haul networks, such as data centers, to ensure speed and accuracy.

A Glimpse into Luna’s Future

Scott believes that what Luna does with fiber, both in terms of classic test and measurement and on the sensing side where the fiber is used as the sensor itself, is unique. “Our potential is significant, and we believe that we are in the midst of a market shift that continues to accelerate the adoption of the capabilities that Luna provides. Increasingly, we are seeing true market pull; very significant players realize the impact of incorporating optical fiber sensors into their products and are contacting us as potential customers and partners. In 2021, we look to continue new product developments and to strengthen our strategic partnerships.”

Key Aspects of Leadership

When asked about the key aspects of leadership, Scott concluded that some of the most powerful tools a leader can have in their toolkit include transparency, a lean forward attitude and an ability to empower others.

Transparency – Scott believes transparency is KEY with fellow employees, Board of Directors and shareholders. He does that by keeping everyone in the loop, sharing both good and the bad news, and by welcoming honest feedback from members of his team. The honest feedback gives him the opportunity to fix problems remove barriers in the way of his team members. Transparency also fosters a culture of accountability within the workplace.

Lean Forward – Scott describes himself as a forward-leaning leader, someone who is always looking for opportunities, anticipating their broad effects and assessing the overall risk. “Risk is necessary to host an innovative culture within Luna, but it is a balancing act. Risk can’t be tolerated at the expense of the bottom line in the long-term. A measured degree of risk tolerance is also a characteristic I look for when we are hiring,” Scott noted.

Empower Others – By consistently communicating with employees and sharing the company’s strategy, Scott wants everyone to understand and feel like they are contributing to achieving the company’s vision. Doing so increases both their sense of individual worth and their commitment to the company. He added, “It’s important to me that everyone at Luna understands what a critical role they play in Luna’s success.”

Sound Advice

In the past, Scott admits that he too often missed the small things while in pursuit of the big picture in his mind. However, he’s learned that, to be a successful leader, he must be able to see all the trees that make up the forest. Connecting with individuals and recognizing the behind-the-scenes efforts of everyone within the organization is crucial to the success of the team he’s leading.

Attaining Success

At the end of the day, it’s important for Scott to know that he has helped to make something better – whether that is a process or product at the company, a person’s day, his community’s vibrancy – he wants to know that he’s had a positive impact somewhere. “Success is also connecting with my two daughters, sharing the good things and bad things about our life experiences. Success is ensuring that my wife of 26 years knows I will be there for her and vice versa. Success is making Luna a better company today than it was five years ago – for our employees, our customers and our shareholders.”

For Scott, success lies in focusing on some reasonable balance of the critical components of his life. He recognizes that balance is different for everyone, and we each must define it for ourselves. He always wants to be fully present – fully engaged and listening. Success is being a good father, husband, and leader, simultaneously.

Mahesh Lunani, Founder & CEO, Aquasight, An Innovative Water Cycle Infrastructure in Path-Breaking Journey

Founded in 2015, Aquasight is a brainchild endeavor by Founder and CEO Mahesh Lunani, an innovative thinker and strategic operator focused on breaking through the realms of business practices and bringing good financial acumen with a specific focus on increasing company value.

Mr Lunani is passionate about building businesses, who left the corporate world to pursue a passion for resolving big challenges in mature industries with innovative and disruptive digital businesses. Prior to starting Aquasight, Mahesh co-founded a corporate venture group at Cognizant, a NASDAQ listed company, and also worked at IBM, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, and Ford Motor Company. He was a member of the Strategic Leadership Team at Cognizant Technology Solutions that led the strategy and growth of the overall company.

Mahesh is a seasoned business leader with over 20 years of experience in the industry, consulting, and venture capital. His experience spans several industries and in several countries outside the US such as UK, Germany, Korea, China, Japan, and Mexico. Besides, Mahesh chaired venture boards and provided operational oversight on leading-edge emerging businesses that spanned across verticals.

A Glimpse of Aquasight & Service Portfolio

Aquasight invested and built industry-first Real-Time AI infrastructure dedicated to water. It comprises four key components. First, data ingestion can consume data from many proprietary and third-party source systems. Second a data management that partitions and store this high volume and high-velocity data so it can be staged for processing as well retrieval. Third layer Aquasight AI processing engine that has leveraged deep water expertise. The fourth layer is front-end apps that are used by various personnel in the utility workforce. There is a portfolio of six apps Aquasight has created to complete this infrastructure, ATLAS – Pump Health & Operations, AURA – Smart Water Distribution Network, ACE – Smart Sewer Intelligence, APOLLO – Efficient Wastewater Treatment, AMP – Asset Management & Capital Planning, CEWS – Infectious Disease Sewage Surveillance.

Aquasight ‘s clientele primarily includes Municipal water and wastewater systems. And, the company’s motto is to create smart utility, smart operations, and smart operators using technology and AI. They build that faith by making sure they are empowering people with tools that help achieve O&M efficiencies, provide asset intelligence, retain knowledge, manage risks, and in capital planning.

The Inspiration behind the Beginning

Life is a series of dots you never know how and when they connect. Mr Lunani’s career has been a series of such dots that he didn’t plan but in hindsight, they all appear to be linked. From a young age involved in selling water pumps to his first job performing data modelling to a shift to management consulting and finally building a corporate venture group. They have all been instrumental in shaping him and Aquasight.

The Innovative Team & Corporate Ethos

The Aquasight team is made up of those from outside the water sector but excellent problem solvers and those that have decades of water management experience. You cannot innovate when everyone thinks the same way. Regarding their ethos, the company has Aquasight Way. This is a set of 10 principles by which the organization is operated. For example, one of them is “make your work inheritable”. That means one can only grow if the work you are doing and the innovation you create are easily executable by another person in the organization. Perhaps this is counterintuitive but that is exactly the kind of mindset we require at Aquasight.

Hiccups & Helping Hand in the Journey

The primary challenge has always been building infrastructure that is scalable and features that add true value to our customers. This requires intuition, gut feel, and a proper feedback loop from customers so we can continuously improvise. Fortunately, Mahesh and his team never had to pivot, they kept expanding their solution set from the foundational infrastructure they built.

“We are very grateful to a number of people. Our team, Our advisors, and Our customers all have accepted our vision and tried our solution during the early years. We built on successes but also every time we failed; we became introspective. I am also incredibly thankful to my wife and the family. Personally, I learned a lot in every facet and I am trying to be a better leader, innovator, and difference-maker to everyone I touch every day. No one is perfect but we can all strive to be better,” apprised Mr Lunani while talking about those people whose support has led him to reach where he is today.

Creating a more Balanced and Equal Industry

You can do well by doing good. There is a lot of wastage in this world, and all organizations can contribute in a very positive way if they look through their products and business models and understand how they can minimize the burden we are placing on our planet’s resources.

A Day in Mahesh Lunani’s Life

Mr Lunani confessed that he had a bad routine in his 20s and 30s. He learned over time and perhaps the hard way that one can only achieve higher levels of performance if you have a routine that is consistent and predictable (which may sound boring). Presently, he wakes up at 6:00 A.M and sleeps at 10:00 PM. Everything in between is more or less predictable – product meetings, customer meetings, and sales meetings. He involves in many 1-on-1 meetings to understand the progress his teams are making and the challenges they are facing. As per hobbies, the leader loves playing tennis, reading up on inspiring stories or meeting inspiring people, and exploring other cultures by touring various parts of the world.

Future Goals

When asked about future plans, Mr Lunani shared, We just got started. I believe our future is all about growth, product, customer, and regional. In addition, we are taking our technology to other vertical markets such as manufacturing, O&G, and telematics.”

A Piece of Advice for Emerging Business Leaders

Try to find the problem you want to solve first and if you can couple that with perseverance and ingenuity then the sky’s the limit.

Why i am resolute in my afro-optimism despite the continent’s challanges

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It is becoming clear that most – if not all – our major social, economic and political decisions over the next few years will be made through the prism of the coronavirus and the ripple effects of the pandemic.

However, it is certain that we are yet to see the worst of the disease, in terms of health, social impact and the economy. While lockdown measures are evident in much of the region, public health experts are unanimous in their view that we won’t escape a surge in new infections, especially as we head into the colder winter months.

Already, the economic effects of lockdown can be felt, as informal traders and small to medium enterprises grind to a halt due to government restrictions. The effects, while impossible to fully predict, are likely to reshape the future of the continent in fundamental ways.

While our current focus is on overcoming the immediate challenge posed by the virus, I cannot help but look up and consider what awaits us beyond the immediate horizon. And, despite the chaos and uncertainty we all presently feel, I remain highly optimistic about our collective future, both as a business leader and as an African citizen.

Inspiring an entrepreneurial spirit

Due to the digital skills divide and a number of other factors, most Africans are not actively working in the digital economy. The overwhelming majority of Africa’s citizens are informal traders, smallholder farmers and other forms of entrepreneurs.

An estimated sixty percent of Africa’s workforce are engaged in agriculture alone. The continent’s 250 million smallholder farmers, working on plots of around 2ha each and earning less than $1,000 per year, produce 80% of all food consumed here. A single smallholder farmer financially supports multiple family members and makes an invaluable contribution to food security. Any intervention that supports this sector has the potential to deliver dramatic socio-economic returns.

We can see this in Nigeria, where an initiative by the Convention on Business Integrity’s for-profit arm CBI
Innovations has seen the deployment of a technology tool to support 850 000 maize farmers and connect them more sustainably to the agricultural value chain.

Where countries have invested in building stronger agriculture sectors, the entire economy has been lifted. World Bank data shows that Ethiopia’s poverty levels dropped by a thirds since 2000 mainly thanks to impressive agricultural GDP growth of nearly 10% per year.

A growing and evolving continent

Africa’s population growth has been on an accelerated path for some time. Experts agree that, at current rates,
the continent’s population will double by 2050. This will be accompanied by a mass urbanisation that could see rural areas empty as more citizens seek a better life in fast-growing cities.

The World Economic Forum predicts that the population in Lagos in Nigeria could pass 88 million by 2100, making it the most populous city on the planet.

However, these oft-quoted predictions are extreme. The latest data shows that the working age population
in Africa – those aged between 25 and 64 – is growing faster than other age groups, which provides an opportunity for accelerate economic growth, also known as the ‘demographic dividend’.

How we engage, mobilise and equip this demographic dividend in service of the continent’s socio-economic goals will be instrumental in our collective effort to build a better future.

Which makes the advances in digital skills development, driven by investments from public and private sector organisations into digital skills development among teachers and students, all the more exciting.

Digital skills training crosses tipping point

With more than 700 million youth spread across 54 countries, Africa’s wealth of youthful talent is the envy of even more developed nations that face ageing – and in some cases, declining – populations.

A broad collective effort has been underway over the past few years to equip this youthful talent pool with the skills and knowledge they need to be active participants and contributors to the global digital economy.

Much of the developed world has been able to quickly shift learning to online platforms thanks to the pervasive high-speed internet connectivity and broad use of internet-enabled devices in those markets. In Africa, too many children simply don’t have that option.

Public and private sector organisations will need to build on the success that has been achieved over the past years to bring digital skills learning to more of the continent’s youth. Such efforts should focus not only on expanding access to technology among especially rural communities, but on equipping teachers and educators with the tools and knowledge they need to be effective digital learning champions.

The investments we make in training our youth today will pay huge dividends as we steer through the coming years and decades.

Diversity our greatest strength

Just as technology is supporting smallholder farmers by connecting them to better information and market opportunities, so too will we see innovations that empower female entrepreneurs to maximise their business ventures.

In the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Women’s Report, sub-Saharan Africa boasted the highest rate of female entrepreneurs at 21.8%. This against a global rate of 10.2% – in Europe, the rate drops to 6%. This means more than one in five women in Africa are engaged in some form of entrepreneurial activity.

Social entrepreneurship is also gaining ground as a more sustainable and broadly beneficial business model for addressing socio-economic challenges on the continent. In 2019, Africa hosted the Social Entrepreneurship World Forum, first established in 2007, in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. In that country alone, 55 000 social enterprises have sprung up to address a wide spectrum of challenges. Surprisingly, more than a quarter of social entrepreneurs in the country are women, compared to only 4.5% who lead mainstream Ethiopian businesses.

I believe it is our diversity and multiculturalism that gives us immense strength in innovation and resilience. Three thousand ethnic groups speaking more than two thousand languages lend the continent an unmatched richness in perspectives and lived experiences.

As a greater share of our daily work output becomes automated by more efficient machines and algorithms, we’re likely to see a shift back to those skills and qualities that make us uniquely human. Empathy, creativity, compassion, the ability to consider and engage with a diverse set of views – these are the skills that will distinguish us as we head into the coming decades.

In closing

There’s no doubt we face a difficult and uncertain road ahead. Things are likely to get worse before they
get better. But we have done so much work over the past decades, achieved so much, overcome such immense socio-economic challenges, that I take heart that our continent will survive.

More than that, I believe we are well-placed to create a pan-African community with a shared vision for a
more equitable future, one driven by the deeply African belief in Ubuntu. Some global analysts believe there is opportunity for Africa to rival China’s economic might, despite our challenges.

I think Africa will chart its own course, one that is no less transformational than the so-called Chinese Miracle, but takes all our best qualities: our diversity, our natural wealth, our youthfulness, our creativity and resilience, and forges an inclusive future for all who call this continent home.

ENDS

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