The Poverty Warriors

By+Kamailoudini+Tagba

When he went to university to study international development and history， Momarr Mass Taal wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father， a diplomat. But as he says， he found that his calling was not to be a diplomat.

“I was studying development and I found that in Africa what is lacking is value addition - there is a gap between agriculture and finished goods，” said the 28-year-old Gambian， who saw an opportunity in the absence and seized it.

He already had some experience in producing finished goods， having tried his hand at mango processing when he was just 17， buying the machinery needed with a grant from the World Bank. So in 2014， he took the plunge and founded Tropingo Foods， which processes and exports mango and groundnut. But his age proved to be an obstacle， with the banks refusing to take him seriously. Then last year， he had a breakthrough when he received a seed capital of $5，000 from the Tony Elumelu Foundation in Nigeria.

Today， Tropingo Foods has grown into a $1.2-million revenue business， and is officially acknowledged as the largest exporter of groundnut in the Gambia.

Taal says he saw an opportunity to push the wave of African entrepreneurship： “Instead of just making something and selling it， lets take our own resources and make something out of [them] and then sell [them].” And he could do it， he added， because he had “good mentors who took me on board.”

The Tony Elumelu phenomenon

Taals mentor is a Nigerian economist-turned-philanthropist who has been called one of the 20 most powerful people in Africa by Forbes magazine. Tony Elumelu， a 53-year-old Nigerian banker， is the chairman of several companies in Nigeria. Since two years， Elumelu has become a mentor to many more young African entrepreneurs.

In 2014， the Tony Elumelu Foundation he had established to foster entrepreneurship and boost the African private sector launched the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program （TEEP）. Its goal is to use a $100-million fund to ensure the emergence of 10，000 entrepreneurs in 10 years who would eventually create 1 million jobs in Africa and add$10 billion to the continents economy.

Africa has the youngest population in the world with the number of people aged between 15 and 24 reaching 226 million in 2015. This number， according to a United Nations projection， could rise by 42 percent by 2030.

The continent also has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world. An International Labor Organization report last year said North Africa had the highest youth unemployment at a staggering 30.5 percent. Governments have been unable to provide jobs for millions of young graduates coming from untold numbers of private and public universities. This has led to social chaos with many jobless youths falling prey to the lure of terrorist organizations like Boko Haram in Nigeria and Al Qaeda in the Maghreb. Thousands have lost their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean in search of a better way of life.

Against this backdrop， the private sector has a major responsibility to help in job creation and poverty reduction.“Government alone cannot create jobs. The private sector has a role to play， and for jobs to be created， [an] enabling environment must be provided，” Elumelu said during the World Economic Forum in Davos in January.

As a step toward that， last year， TEEP chose 1，000 entrepreneurs from 20，000 applications sent from 51 African countries， giving them $5，000 as non-returnable seed capital to grow their businesses. They were also promised an additional $5，000 as loan or equity if they needed it and met the criteria.

This year too， the foundation called for applications from African entrepreneurs and the new list of the 2016 cohort of “Tony entrepreneurs，” whittled from 45，000 applications from all 54 African countries， was announced in Lagos during a two-day forum held on October 28-29.

The chosen entrepreneurs business plans cover a wide range of sectors including agriculture （288）， manufacturing （93）， education and training （79）， information communication technology （77） and commercial/retail（76）. Of them， 68 percent are male.

Nigeria tops the list with 591 recipients， followed by Kenya （75） and Uganda （64）.

Meet the winners

Alwaleed Abdeen describes himself as “jack of all trades and master of some.” The curly-haired 27-year-old Sudanese with an infectious smile is among the 2016 recipients for Ya Zool Events， the Web-based organization he founded to harness the social media extensively and boost networking， as well as its sister organization， the Ya Zool For9a Network. The network aims to raise the capacity of young Sudanese by providing information on training， job openings and social and professional events， and stimulate innovation among them.

“My ambition is to be able to provide jobs for 1 million Sudanese in 10 years，” Abdeen said.

Oguitsi Odoras project is as different from the Internetbased creations of Abdeen as chalk is from， well， popcorn. The 23-year-old Nigerian runs Excel Peez， a company which makes popcorn. Odora said she has chosen the fast-moving consumer goods sector to change the popcorn narrative in Nigeria.

“I want to be the premier popcorn company in Nigeria， so that when you want popcorn， the first thing that comes to your mind is Excel Peez，” she said.

Another successful entrepreneur， Aimee Ishimwe， is from Burundi. The 28-year-old is head of marketing at IshTri Co.， an agribusiness that recycles organic waste into natural fertilizer to replace chemical fertilizers， which adversely affect the soil and peoples health.

Ishimwe says she hopes IshTri will become the leading recycling company in Burundi and the countrys top natural fertilizer producer and exporter.

“I salute those here， our ambition is that you become ambassadors for entrepreneurship in Africa - you are a generation of wealth creators， who share our commitment to the economic and social transformation of Africa，” Elumelu said at the forum.“We give to empower and break the cycle of dependency. Entrepreneurship is the only path to independence and sustainability.”

The TEEP event was also attended by several recipients of the 2015 edition， who proved a source of inspiration for their 2016 peers.

Mathius Lawson， from Benin， is CEO and founder of BeninLogis.com， an online platform that helps people looking to rent or to buy real estate locate the property using its search engine. The 31-year-old Web developer says he launched the project after suffering at the hands of real estate agents who kept him hanging for a month when he was urgently looking for an apartment to rent. He says he thought to himself， “Im a Web developer. Why cant I find a solution that can allow people to not have the same misadventure as me？” Thereby BeninLogis.com was founded. Last year， when it began operations， the TEEP seed money enabled him to promote his business across the continent and elsewhere.

The last day of the forum saw a distinguished guest from Sierra Leone， the countrys President Ernest Bai Koroma. Koroma urged people across the continent to emulate the program.“What is unique about this program is that it not only provides a platform for entrepreneurs to build connections， but they are also being taught how to build their businesses in a sustainable way，”he said. “Other philanthropists will be inspired to support and promote this philosophy.”

“We are the future，” Taal said in conclusion， referring to Africas young entrepreneurs and the need for them to network and learn from one anothers experiences. It would have an uplifting impact， he said. “These are Africans with the same issues we have. If they can [succeed]， then we can too.”