School of Business Concludes Training of Trainers in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Mentorship
The School of Business on Friday 16th April 2021 successfully concluded the ARUA EIMEC training of trainers in entrepreneurship and Innovation program. The 12 day training brought about participants from universities in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Nigeria. Resource persons were seasoned trainers and scholars from ARIA CoE USD partners including University of Iowa, University of Lagos, University of Nairobi-SOB, University of Cape Town, University of Kwazulu Natal and University of Ghana.
While officially opening the training on behalf of the Vice Chancellor, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Principal Prof. Mohamud Jama noted that the program had built a critical group of Faculty who were able to train self-reliant graduates rather than job seekers. “The goal of this Train-The-Trainer Program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Mentorship Education Certification (EIMAC) is to empower participants to create awareness and impart skills for job creation to their students in their respective disciplines and hence contribute in creating sustainable and impactful entrepreneurship.” He said.
Some of the modules taught in the programme included: Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Innovation Drive, Opportunity Identification and, Understanding the Business Model Canvas (BMC) among others.
In an exciting presentation, Prof. Bitange Ndemo called for an open border policy between all countries in Africa. “We need free movement of Africans between countries because neocolonialism is the enemy of poverty. Why would Senegal import beef from France when they can get the same from Cameroon?’’ He remarked. Prof. Ndemo also said there was need for Africans to come up with solutions to African problems. “We need to borrow a leaf from the Indian Diaspora who went back to India and transformed their pharmaceutical industries and the ICT sector.” Prof. Ndemo challenged participants to take advantage of data in eradicating poverty since we were in the 4th Industrial revolution. In one of the other presentations, Ms Catherine Ngahu urged participants to focus on creating stable business networks for their start ups, “Without good business networking, you will not succeed with your start up businesses.” She remarked. “Networks are key in differentiating you from the competitors-Your network is your networth.”She said.
The training was fully funded by the UKRI-GCFR GRANT titled: Partnership, Research and Capacity-Building for Youth Unemployment Solutions in Africa and was also a UON@50 celebration event by the School of Business. The University of Nairobi has been celebrating 50 years since it was transformed into the first national University in Kenya on July 1, 1970.
