Empowering The Next Generation Of Social Entrepreneurs: Lessons From Catalyst 2030’s Africa Forward February Forum

African stakeholders in entrepreneurship were urged to collaborate in creating an ecosystem that supports social entrepreneurship and facilitates the entrepreneurial journey for young and emerging social entrepreneurs at Catalyst 2030’s Africa Forward panel discussion.

The event featured Rosemary Okello-Orlale, Director of Africa Media Hub, Strathmore University Business, and Keyinde Ayeni, Executive Director of LEAP Africa, as speakers. Kristine Pearson, CEO of Lifeline Energy, moderated the session, which focused on building enabling ecosystems for social enterprises.

During her presentation, Rosemary Okello-Orlale provided a robust framework for social entrepreneurship, emphasizing its importance for the development of every economic environment. According to her, “Entrepreneurs are at the heart of Africa’s socio-economic growth.” Therefore, all stakeholders in Africa should adopt a policy-thinking approach to social entrepreneurship. She also emphasized the importance of constant research by all stakeholders to make social entrepreneurship easy to understand and implement.

Keyinde Ayeni shared her organization’s approach to ensuring a sustainable ecosystem for social entrepreneurs, which includes actively recommending reliable and efficient budding entrepreneurs for opportunities and projects. She also stressed the need for all stakeholders to support social entrepreneurs and change makers by recognizing their efforts, providing access to funding, and creating a strong and supportive community of social entrepreneurs.

The session also highlighted the opportunity for emerging social entrepreneurs to access social networks and resources based on the experiences of entrepreneurs on the Catalyst 2030 platform.

Watch the full session here

Africa Forward is an initiative of Catalyst 2030 with the sole purpose of rewriting the narrative about Africa. Its strategic shifts are comprised of 5 critical pillars: (1) Narrative Shift, (2) Ecosystem Development, (3) Funding, (4) Job Creation and Career Counseling and (5) Training and Capacity Development. The Africa Forward monthly series is intended to inspire and charge social entrepreneurs on the best ways to change the narrative about Africa.The next session will take place in March 2023

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