Imbuto Foundation Youth Forum: Remarks by Mr William Saad - Kigali , 11th May 2016 - video Dailymotion

IGIHE

Watch Imbuto Foundation Youth Forum: Remarks by Mr William Saad - Kigali , 11th May 2016 - IGIHE on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 Your Excellency, First Lady of Republic of Rwanda,

00:09 thank you so much for having us here on this opportunity

00:12 to convene to discuss such a fantastic opportunity

00:16 about the young entrepreneur in Africa.

00:19 A little bit of background, as you know,

00:20 SMEs comprise over 90% of the African economy

00:24 and 98% of Rwanda economy.

00:27 Moreover, SMEs contribute to 41% of all private employment

00:31 in Rwanda, which proves that this country has become

00:34 a bastion of successful entrepreneurs.

00:37 As opposed to approximately 50% to 60%

00:40 in typical market of Europe and North America,

00:43 they are the lifeblood of our real economy.

00:45 Today, these small and growing businesses

00:47 create around 80% of the region employment,

00:50 thereby establishing a new middle class

00:53 and fueling demand for new goods and services.

00:56 By 2035, the number of African joining the working age

01:00 population will exceed that of the rest of the world combined.

01:05 According to the International Monetary Fund,

01:08 and a high percentage of the population will start his

01:10 or her own business in Africa, and hence getting more jobs.

01:16 We at IHS believe that increased mobile network coverage

01:24 and quality and boosting SME productivity

01:28 will be vital to job creation and the future of Rwanda

01:30 and Africa.

01:31 Technology all over Africa is helping a lot of SMEs

01:35 overcome some of those long term problems,

01:38 such as transport, power, and other area of difficulty

01:42 in the continent.

01:43 ICT are at the heart of SME business,

01:45 stimulating productivity, helping

01:47 overcome tough operating environment,

01:49 and opening up new markets in areas

01:51 like the creative industries, apps, gaming, retail,

01:54 and services, et cetera.

01:58 Mobile is making a big contribution

01:59 to rural businesses.

02:00 Poverty is more acute in rural Rwanda.

02:04 So supporting SME in this population

02:06 will help the country reduce inequality.

02:09 One way to lessen the urban rural digital divide

02:11 is to deepen the application of mobile to agriculture,

02:14 the sector in which the majority of Rwanda's rural dwellers

02:17 work.

02:18 Technology are already being applied

02:20 to a range of agriculture related processes.

02:24 From online crop advice to price checking and climate

02:27 risk information, combined with improved mobile network

02:30 quality in rural region, this penetration of ICT

02:33 across wider geographies can significantly

02:35 support favorable income distribution

02:37 trends throughout the country.

02:39 And this is exactly what you're doing today

02:41 with various provider and technology innovation

02:45 in the world, trying to develop something that we can really

02:48 provide cheap--

02:50 not cheap, low cost and high quality data access

02:54 for rural areas all over Africa.

02:56 So you may ask, what do you need to be a successful entrepreneur

03:01 in Africa?

03:03 What is impressive about entrepreneurship in Africa

03:05 is the level of creativity.

03:07 Every challenge is seen as an opportunity

03:09 to create a new business.

03:11 I like to talk here--

03:13 not reading now-- about what happened to us in IHS.

03:17 When we started in IHS, it happened that during 2001,

03:21 when they privatized the telecommunications

03:23 sector in Nigeria, we realized that the operators are

03:26 facing a lot of problems building their own sites.

03:29 It was a very challenging process for them.

03:32 So we decided, why don't we do it for them

03:34 and let them focus on their main business, which

03:36 is selling airtime and data?

03:38 So we started doing building sites for operators.

03:40 And a lot of other companies also did the same like us.

03:44 A few years later, we realized that maintaining those sites

03:46 became a challenge for them.

03:48 So we said, why don't we go and maintain it for them

03:51 and so that they can focus on their own business,

03:53 selling airtime and data?

03:55 So we started maintaining their sites.

03:58 And then we found that the market

03:59 is getting a little saturated.

04:01 We said, OK, why don't we buy their towers

04:03 so they can have more access to fund,

04:05 so they can expand their network in other areas

04:08 so we can get more business?

04:10 And we let this network be shared with other operators

04:13 as well.

04:14 And this was the key for our success

04:16 as IHS, as one of the players in the African continent

04:19 in the telecom industry.

04:21 But the key characteristics are hard work, passion, creativity,

04:26 vision, boldness, pragmatism, and patience.

04:30 Whether you are a potential tech pioneer or innovator willing

04:32 to solve social challenges, those characteristics

04:35 are crucial for all entrepreneurs.

04:39 People might say that we are lucky sometimes

04:41 to be here where we are today as entrepreneurs, who

04:43 made it so far in life.

04:46 I don't believe in that.

04:47 There's something called luck.

04:48 There's education, skills, access to information.

04:53 You get the skill to see an opportunity, you grab it,

04:55 you do the calculated risk, and you're successful.

04:58 So what we have to do to help bring up

05:02 young entrepreneurs in Africa, we

05:04 have to work on giving them proper education and access

05:08 to information.

05:09 These are the two key criteria from my point of view

05:13 to be able to put new entrepreneurs on the right track.

05:16 Also, we have to work together, existing companies, people

05:20 who made it already, government, banks,

05:22 to see how we can make their life easier,

05:25 let them have easy access for funds,

05:28 easy access for information, easy processes.

05:31 Those young guys don't have funds

05:33 to equip their companies with a lot of resources.

05:36 So we have to simplify all the processes for them

05:39 to help them succeed and make it in life.

05:41 Finally, to conclude, in further support

05:46 to the Mbutu Foundation and its various initiatives for women,

05:50 kids, seniors, and widows, today we

05:52 announced an additional, as well,

05:54 contribution to the foundation.

05:56 This additional support is the result

05:58 of an outstanding two-year partnership, which

06:00 we believe has a strong future for the coming years.

06:04 To the First Lady, thank you so much

06:06 for establishing such an efficient and human foundation

06:09 for young entrepreneurs.

06:10 We are here supporting you.

06:12 And thank you.

06:13 Thank you.

06:13 [APPLAUSE]

06:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]

06:23 (upbeat music)

Imbuto Foundation Youth Forum: Remarks by Mr William Saad - Kigali , 11th May 2016

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended