How The Most Successful African Entrepreneurs Raised Their Capital
Entrepreneurship is the trending phenomenon in Africa and the world at large for the youthful generation. The idea is to be job creators and self employed other than being employed. Most people give the excuse of shortage of capital. However, from the stories of the most successful African entrepreneurs you will realize that capital is never an issue. These icons built multi-million empires from nothing only that they were driven by zeal to accomplish their dreams.
Fomba Trawally was forced to seek refuge in Gambia when civil war hit Liberia. He only returned to Monrovia after being away from 1989 to 1991. Armed with a life saving of only 200 dollars, he opened a shop selling rubber slippers. Over fifteen years, he diversified into imported cosmetics, a base which enabled him to build his now multi-million dollar paper and toiletry manufacturing company.
The Ethiopian neighborhood of Zenabwork and its poverty did not discourage Bethlehem Alemu from growing her footwear business allover African and beyond. The poor Ethiopian girl borrowed 10,000 dollars from relatives and friends and began recycling materials and making shoes. SoleRebels is now a recognized African brand with a turnover of over a million dollars every year and selling globally.
IrokoTV would not be a sensational name were it not for its Nigerian CEO and Co-founder Jason Njoku. The station specializes on Nollywood Movies. The impressive growth witnessed has attracted capital from global investors. His contribution was a noble idea. His partner and other investors are putting in 90,000 pounds to transform it into biggest online movie streaming company in Africa.
Bootstrapping is a path that many budding entrepreneurs are not ready to take. It is a situation where you start with zero capital, no office, workers, etc. This was the path taken by Adii Pienaar, the South African tech entrepreneur behind WooThemes. He was 23 and in the university when he started working on WooThemes. He worked part time and as a consultant to raise money which he pumped into WooThemes. His company was bought by an American internet based tech giant for 30 million dollars.
Most 19 year old are partying, taking photos with hash tags or pursuing mundane courses in university. Patrick used his sunset teen year to set up a Chinese mobile phone selling business. He left for China with 1,800 dollars as capital, that was borrowed from his mother and topped by a friend. Today, the Tanzanian entrepreneur owns the largest solar company in Eastern Africa minting in excess of fifteen million dollars in 2015.
What comes to mind when you see an empty water bottle or disposed plastic container? Lorna Rutto from Kenya saw a remedy for the fast depleting forests in the name of providing wooden poles. With SEED funding, he has built a million dollar company that is in full scale manufacturing, employing thousands and conserving the environment.
Africa has an incredible collection of entrepreneurship success stories. There is the celebrity pig farmer from South Africa called Anna Phosa. Aliko Dangote had to borrow 500,000naira from his grandfather and is now the richest man in Africa. Fred Deegbe knows what bootstrapping is all about, and many more success stories. The above stories only demonstrate that capital is a lame excuse. What is required is passion and hard work.
Fomba Trawally was forced to seek refuge in Gambia when civil war hit Liberia. He only returned to Monrovia after being away from 1989 to 1991. Armed with a life saving of only 200 dollars, he opened a shop selling rubber slippers. Over fifteen years, he diversified into imported cosmetics, a base which enabled him to build his now multi-million dollar paper and toiletry manufacturing company.
The Ethiopian neighborhood of Zenabwork and its poverty did not discourage Bethlehem Alemu from growing her footwear business allover African and beyond. The poor Ethiopian girl borrowed 10,000 dollars from relatives and friends and began recycling materials and making shoes. SoleRebels is now a recognized African brand with a turnover of over a million dollars every year and selling globally.
IrokoTV would not be a sensational name were it not for its Nigerian CEO and Co-founder Jason Njoku. The station specializes on Nollywood Movies. The impressive growth witnessed has attracted capital from global investors. His contribution was a noble idea. His partner and other investors are putting in 90,000 pounds to transform it into biggest online movie streaming company in Africa.
Bootstrapping is a path that many budding entrepreneurs are not ready to take. It is a situation where you start with zero capital, no office, workers, etc. This was the path taken by Adii Pienaar, the South African tech entrepreneur behind WooThemes. He was 23 and in the university when he started working on WooThemes. He worked part time and as a consultant to raise money which he pumped into WooThemes. His company was bought by an American internet based tech giant for 30 million dollars.
Most 19 year old are partying, taking photos with hash tags or pursuing mundane courses in university. Patrick used his sunset teen year to set up a Chinese mobile phone selling business. He left for China with 1,800 dollars as capital, that was borrowed from his mother and topped by a friend. Today, the Tanzanian entrepreneur owns the largest solar company in Eastern Africa minting in excess of fifteen million dollars in 2015.
What comes to mind when you see an empty water bottle or disposed plastic container? Lorna Rutto from Kenya saw a remedy for the fast depleting forests in the name of providing wooden poles. With SEED funding, he has built a million dollar company that is in full scale manufacturing, employing thousands and conserving the environment.
Africa has an incredible collection of entrepreneurship success stories. There is the celebrity pig farmer from South Africa called Anna Phosa. Aliko Dangote had to borrow 500,000naira from his grandfather and is now the richest man in Africa. Fred Deegbe knows what bootstrapping is all about, and many more success stories. The above stories only demonstrate that capital is a lame excuse. What is required is passion and hard work.
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