Program
Symposium attendees arrive and are registered.
1. Achenyo Idachaba-Obaro - Green Entrepreneur and Founder, MitiMeth Ltd
Achenyo Idachaba-Obaro is the head of MitiMeth, a Nigeria-based company that creates handcrafted products from natural fibres that would otherwise be considered waste or environmental menaces. These natural fibres include aquatic weeds (water hyacinth, typha grass) and agricultural waste forms (banana bark, maize husks).
In 2009, Achenyo bid her corporate career in the United States goodbye and relocated to Nigeria to start a new chapter as a social entrepreneur. She founded Greennovative Chain, which provided research and advocacy services in climate change mitigation, and later founded MitiMeth, a for-profit social enterprise based in Ibadan, Nigeria, which she considers a tangible expression of her research advice.
MitiMeth upcycles and adds value to recovered waste (plants and non-timber resources) by harvesting and transforming it into furniture and home accents, storage pieces, lamps, kitchen and dining ware, stationery, and branded souvenir items. Everything is made locally, designed with global appeal. The company also conducts training workshops for locals on river handicraft product development.
2. Djabanor Narh - Partner, Advisory Services & Joe Tackie
The Entrepreneur of The Year® program, founded by EY, has recognized the endeavours of exceptional men and women who create the products and services that keep our worldwide economy moving forward. Based on a balanced scorecard, awards are given to entrepreneurs who have demonstrated excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance, risk and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.
Djabanor and Joe will present a case study of The Entrepreneur of The Year® program taking event participants through the tenets and features of significant business leadership and example. They will share how extraordinary business leaders cut through the noise of this transformative age, break away from the pack — and then end up leading it.
Since its inception, Entrepreneur of The Year has grown dramatically and now includes programs in more than 145 cities and more than 60 countries worldwide. The program has honoured the inspirational leadership of such entrepreneurs as Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com, Michael Dell of Dell Inc., Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines, Fred Smith of FedEx, Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google
At this session we engage green VCs and entrepreneurs on how they accelerate the transition to a low carbon and sustainable global economy. By providing tailored and targeted financial and managerial assistance, creating jobs and addressing climate challenges, green venture funds and entrepreneurs continue to prove the compelling case that climate innovation and enterprise agility renders significant socio-economic prosperity, and that the green economy is the only economy of the future.
Hubert Ruzibiza will start the session with a keynote on Rwanda’s Green Fund – one of the largest in Africa. We will learn about their fund’s structure and operations and hear case studies of some of their fund’s investments – from low carbon construction materials with zero carbon designs, to e-waste recycling.
Rwanda has set an ambitious vision to become a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy by 2050. The Rwanda Green Fund invests in initiatives that put environment and climate change at the centre of development, and has created over 137,000 jobs; overseen the protection of 21,000 hectares of watersheds and water bodies; provided 58,000 households with improved access to off-grid clean energy; and supported 104,000 people to cope with the effects of climate change. Today it supports multiple projects that are helping to restore watersheds, combat erosion, connect off-grid families to clean energy, and much more.
Panellists:
- Hubert Ruzibiza– CEO, Rwanda Green Fund
- Ebenezer Arthur– CEO, Ghana Climate Ventures Fund
- Fumani Mthembi – Founder, The Pele Group, South Africa
Moderator: Aun Ali Rahman, Access to Finance Lead at infoDev, World Bank
Launch of the Wangara Green Fund/The Ghana Climate Ventures Fund
Lunch with curated seating arrangements to ensure that participants are gathered together purposefully to enable engaging conversations and networking opportunities
Accepting that entrepreneurship and innovation is a key driver in steering global economic and financial prosperity, our posit is that entrepreneurs and enterprises, big or small, early stage or mature, need and want business advisory and enterprise support. Business incubators, especially for enterprises in the small and growing business sector, can be a critical success factor for entrepreneurs in propelling their long-term entrepreneurial journey. Incubator success is impinged upon supporting and building entrepreneurs who will lead and grow transformative businesses and be inspiring change-agents in driving a bigger ripple effect in society. At this session we discuss what it takes to lead, manage and operate a world-class business incubator, and we emphasize the need to be contextual, intentional and responsive in managing and operating business incubators.
Panellists:
- Ruka Sanusi – Executive Director, Ghana Climate Innovation Centre
- Bankole Oloruntoba – CEO, Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre
- Gordon Adomdza – Project Director, Ashesi/MIT D Lab
Moderator: Mike Ehst, Senior Private Sector Specialist and Business Incubation Specialist, World Bank
Panellists:
- Kwami Williams – co-Founder, Moringa Connect
- Cordie Aziz – Founder and Executive Director of Environment360
- Joseph Awuah-Darko – Social Entrepreneur | Founder, The Agbogblo.Shine Initiative
Moderator: Jewel Thompson, Project Coordinator AshesiMIT D Lab, Ashesi University
© 2019 Incubating Innovation Symposium