The Nakande’s Project organ-ised two conferences during the month of March and April. The first was organised in Paris and was a success with the collaboration and participation of Hapsatou Sy, creator and director of Ethnicia. In New York, the event fea-tured a great choice of speak-ers such as Yetunde Odug-besan and Fatima Bocoum.

On the 30th of March, Invest Af-rica turned it’s attention to Gha-na for a second investment pro-ject. The Volunteer partnership for West Africa (VPWA) will build a factory for families who wish to work in the agricultural and food industry. These factories will al-low farmers of the Akuapim vil-lage to increase their productivity and consequently their revenues.

INSPIR’ NEWS

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

After the success of the Way-C, first tactile pad in Africa, its crea-tor Verone Mankou recently an-nounced that he would be launch-ing a smartphone conceptualised by his company VMK. The presenta-tion of the Smartphone is sched-uled for the 30th of May in Congo. It should be available on the mar-ket in a few months. Verone also confirmed that he will be attending the New York Africa forum that will be held in Gabon from the 8th to the 10th of June 2012.

The Nigerian entrepreuneur, Yetunde Odugbesan is since January 29th the founder of the Young Women’s Guide organisation. As the name of the or-ganisation indicates, it is dedicated to aiding young women in their careers through humanitarian activities or dis-cussions.

INSPIR’ NEWS

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

INSPIR’ ASSOCIATIONGeorges Malaika Foundation

INSPIR’ INTERVIEWGossy Ukanwoke

FOCULTUREEducation and Shaping Culture

INSPIR’ START-UPNjorku

INSPIR’ POLITICSAndy Nziengui

4 QUESTIONS TOGossy Ukanwoke

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

Education is the SolutionTalking about education as a weapon in 2012 appears to be outdated. A nation which does not educate itself ignores its abilities. Indeed, knowledge isn’t just about accumulation of

theories. The real objective is to be able to use it advisedly. As long as we don’t KNOW, we ignore what we are capable of. Thus, education remains one of the most important stakes in a continent where more than half of the population is young. Even though some educative proffers have improved in 50 years, educating people is still a complicated mission to achieve in cer-tain areas of Africa. Few books, few libraries, and few cultural spaces: The lack of educative facilities confronts itself to an important increasing population. That situation is one of the reasons for the brain drain in the continent. As a result setting up new educational reforms today is an emergency. We have to assure an equal access to resources and try to slow down emigration of our talents. This is what our speakers of the month are trying to achieve. Gossy Ukanwoke, for example, is a young student of the Girne American University who has established several initiatives in this direction, including a hybrid online university. Whether by political means (Andy Nziengui), Or by the use of the Internet (Njorku), Some of our young leaders are attempt-ing to provide possible solutions to change the continent. And it is to their credit! Have a good read.

Joan Y.

GEORGES MALAIKA FOUNDATION:THE GIFT OF EDUCATION

INSPIR’ ASSOCIATION

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When not going to school, chil-dren exposed themselves to social de-linquency and to lack of knowledge. Ignorance is dangerous because a non-educated population leads to under developed countries and under devel-oped continent. That is the reason why education is the center of interest of many non-profit organizations such as Georges Malaika Foundation (GMF). Imagine the world and its popu-lation. Zoom in and look at all conti-nents. Now, imagine Africa and its 52 countries and select one of them: Dem-ocratic Republic of Congo. Zoom again and go to Lubumbashi where there is

a village called Kalebuka. In Kalebuka, you will discover the place where GMF has decided to create a heaven. Founded in 2007 by Noella Cour-saris Musunka, Georges Malaika Foun-dation aim to empower young Con-golese girls aged between 5 and 18 by providing them with a decent learning environment. With 104 girls, GMF’s main goal is to support those girls through tuition and school supplies. Aware of the fact that competitiveness causes people to give the best of them, GMF also proffers scholarships to out-standing students.

George Malaika Foundation is also committed to help the community of the village of Kalebuka, a village lo-cated in the southeastern part of Con-go. School Staff is formed by 8 people from the comunity : Lydie, the principal, Pierre, Mamy, Maguy, Alice, Therese, Aubin and Kilufya. In 2011 was built the Georges Malaika School with 2class-rooms for kindergarten and 2 classes for first primary. The construction of this school gave works to the community. Moreover, the foundation gives the op-portunity to the workers of the village to develop their skills so they can export it outside GMF’s projects. In few months, the school will have 3 more classrooms for primary school and will increase the

size of the dining hall. At the end, the school is supposed to count 10 class-rooms and more facilities. GMF also empowers the commu-nity of Kalebuka through education. In fact, it gives to adults the occasion to de-velop reading, writing, skills in French. Classes are taught twice a week and will lead parents of the community to a “higher standard of living”. Moreover, school staff has to follow IT classes dur-ing three months. For the next academic year, 104 girls are still in need of sponsorship. We can all help by connecting to the GMF’s website and donate.

Joan Y.

INSPIR’ ASSOCIATION

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Education has a particular requirement: you have to be willing to help others without hoping for something in return. Gossy Ukanwoke, a twenty-three year old Nigerian student is living proof of this when in 2010 he decided to help his commu-nity by providing them with a platform called Students Cirlcle.Students Circle is a virtual library where you can work with an help oth-ers. Thanks to resources coming from the best universities of the world (MIT,University of California, Irvine and more). Gossy has made ac-cessible high quality courses for free. Meet the man behind it all.

GOSSY UKANWOKE: HELPING WITHOUT EXPECTING ANYTHING IN RETURN

INSPIR’ INTERVIEW

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Who is Gossy Ukanwoke and what is your edu-cationa l background?I am a Management Information System (MIS) student at Girne American University (GAU). I have always wanted to find solutions to real life problems no matter what kind of prob-lem it is. My focus has been to use technology to provide solutions for those problems and this has basically guided me in most of the things I have done so far. I am a Christian, and I love to cook when am not on the computer.

Have you always wanted to be an entrepreneur?Well I wouldn’t say I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I’ve always wanted to be able to make decisions; not only on what should happen but how I should make it happen. At that time, I didn’t understand what entrepre-neurship meant but if I did, I would have realised that I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur. If it’s possible to be an entrepreneur’s entrepre-neur, that’s actually what I want to be. I want to be the entrepreneurs for other entrepreneurs by helping them (and anyone else) make decisions on how they can best operate and create things.

In your own words, what is Students Circle? Students Circle… It’s come a long way. We just started off as a social network where we were providing educational help for students on my campus. That was our first and initial thought. Then, requests from other schools

started coming in and people started getting interested because users were talking about the website to their friends. As a result Stu-dents Circle had to change its focus to a global one. Today Students circle is an academic net-work for students, teachers and institutions.First, we are providing a space for students to be able to interact and have access to resources that can help for independent study or group-study. It is a place where they can ask questions and find solutions to their academic difficul-ties. Secondly, we are a platform where teach-ers can do two things: get access to resources they can use to add to their own academic contents and interact with their students. Fi-nally, we are creating an avenue for institutions where they are able to connect directly with their students through groups for instance.

How many members do you have?Our membership is a bit tricky because we have people that use the resources but are not reg-istered, but they are considered as members. About 55,000 use our resources right now. Those who are registered and are constantly using the resources and using the social aspect are ap-proximately 5000 thousand. The first group use resources as well but they can’t interact using our social medium, have friends or play games.

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How does it work?It works differently for different users, but they all come together in one way. Let’s start with students. They have to register for a free account. After that, they can join groups re-lated to their academic field. In those groups, they can ask questions, help other students and interact with other users within their academic sphere. In addition to this, they can search for academic content through the academic resources and use it for self-study or share it with people in their group to study with them. It is important to note that if a user is studying alone and encounters a problem, he or she can just post his ques-tions under the course and within a short amount of time; someone else will come and will be able to help. Moreover, they can pub-lish posts about their activities, any kind of information, be it academic or non-academic.

What is the source of the available courses on Student Circle?We are member of the OpenCourseware Consortium which is a consortium of 250 universities globally and the universities in-clude MIT, Stanford, UCLA, Oxford, and Har-vard. So we get these resources from these schools which provide courses and are kind enough to make these courses accessible to us. We make them accessible to students by

putting them on our website. These courses are authentic and trustworthy. People nor-mally have to pay for them, but they have been made free and accessible for everybody.

Why have you decided to focus on students?Like I said earlier I have just always wanted to provide solution to problems. There is a lot of problems that students face and I was able to solve those problems: that is what I did. I created something that would work for the students of my own community.

What is Students circle’s comparative advan-tage?Our Comparative advantage comes from the fact that first of all we are original, I wouldn’t say we are totally the first to get into this sphere but I think we are the first to go to-wards the social aspect. Secondly we have a large network of universities, that is a clear advantage and most importantly we are focus on students. Thirdly, the network is free even if we have invested some amount of money. My focus is not to make profit on this. I am just providing help; if it manages to generate prof-it that’s great but if it doesn’t it’s ok because that wasn’t the goal. We will continue to keep the network alive and to ensure that stu-dents keep getting the help that they need.

INSPIRE INTERVIEW

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

Twitter.com/inspireafrikaINSPIRE AFRIKAThe Only Webzine For African Entrepreneurs.We present outstanding profiles in order to Inspire African Youth.FOLLOW US!

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

In a car conversation with two friends, one a fellow Ghanaian and the other from France my Ghanaian friend was speaking of his educational background. He spoke of his High School years in Accra and the bachelor degree he later obtained at the University of Ghana. Stunned my French friend asked: “So you got a degree in Africa?!” Call her naïve but a lot of people have this mindset about edu-cation in Africa, as if it is simply not up to the level.

There are many reasons for which peo-ple have this general image. First type in “edu-cation in Africa” on Google and you will get nothing but non for profit organizations pro-moting the building of schools in villages. Of course this is not a bad thing but it goes to show that people ignore there are

African countries which possess capable edu-cational institutions that shape highly com-petent students. On the other hand this im-age is certainly due to the fact that thousands of African students every year go abroad to complete or earn their University degrees rather than stay in their home countries.

According to the UNESCO, Sub-Saharan African students are the most mobile in the world when it comes to education abroad. Several African countries have more students abroad than home: one out of every 16 stu-dent is studying abroad.

Either way, education of Africans, be it outside or within the continent is on a rise and is shaping a new cultural landscape now and for the future.

First, ask your parents or better your grandparents about their education. In most cases their education was basic; few had the op-portunity to go all the way to University. They may reach middle school if lucky enough fin-ish of high school but family and cultural re-sponsibilities often arose forcing them to take other paths to success. These are not necessar-ily wrong paths but they are definitely more difficult. However, many of our parents have over achieved and have managed to succeed enough to provide us our opportunities to go further than they did. We are witnessing today the birth of a new generation of highly educated young Af-

ricans. Of course educational institutions we have today in Africa are more advanced than they used to be and are striving to get better, just as my Ghanaian friend demonstrated in the car. It is perfectly viable to receive a degree in Africa that will propel you and qualify you for an international market.

Even though my friend’s qualification led him to seek a master’s degree abroad, he had every intention to head back home after apply-ing his knowledge there; an action all african youths educated abroad should consider and act upon.

FOCULTURE

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

Amma O.

FOCULTURE

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

There is also an obvious mess in mentality birthed within the African youth because of edu-cation. You may recall the magazine’s last issue and the Kimbo – Tout’s article “Don’t try me” on the dominance of seniority in African culture. As youth become increasingly educated, they find within themselves a need to rebel against certain mentalities. The fact is even if our elders may have lived longer and experienced more, they did not experience education to the level that we are to-day. Has that given us the right to question certain principles imposed on us? The answer would be yes. This is setting up a whole new cultural land-scape in which young people may (to a certain extent) know “better” than the elderly in certain domains. There is a power struggle between the elderly and the youth, in which the question is who should be allowed to be leaders of our com-munities: an educated forward looking youth or a most often backward and traditional handful of elders who deem to know better. African youth need to learn to make a stand in the most re-spectful ways in proof of their ability to lead and move their countries forward. While in previous generation the right to seniority was almost nev-er questioned by a subdued youth, today African youth are rising up and saying “Hey, I’m young but I’m here, I know what to do and most impor-tantly I am educated.”

Finally, the eminence of this cultural shift of power through education is shaping an active and ambitious African youth for their continent. Most of the African educational system is based on western models; despite this, African youth

are making the effect of education their own, be-cause being educated within another system does not mean loosing your own basic educational background. It is shaping young mentalities with the ability to mix traditional values with modern principles in designing a new Africa that will re-main true to Africans. Our cultural landscape is in a delicate situation of in-betweens: in between the traditional view of education and the mod-ern view. However, finding a common ground is crucial. African youths have shown an incredible capacity of doing this. Yet the brain drain prob-lem is eminent: many youths are also aware of it and want to counteract it. The new word for this is brain gain. The new movement is the re-turn of Africans educated abroad to their home countries to give back. A recent poll for example showed that in Ghana, over 1.1 million Ghana-ians who left the country between 2000 and 2007, only 153,000 did not return temporarily or per-manently. According to the IOM (International Organization for Migration), relative peace, se-curity and political stability in countries such as Mali, Ethiopia, South Africa or Ghana has led to the growing trend of return or circular migra-tion.

Africa has come to understand that educa-tion is indispensable to its uprising. The youth of the continent have increasingly understood this notion and are shaping African culture through the power of education like never before.

THE ESSENTIAL PLATFORM FOR JOB SEEKERS

At the age of 20, Churchill Nanje founded AfroVision Group, an Information Tech-nology company based in Buea, Cameroon, with the goal of providing affordable software, web, and mobile solutions to Cameroonians and Africans. As an African entrepreneur, he encoun-tered the problem faced by most African employers: finding employees. After 3 years of frustration, he

decided to start a project that would help him as well as other employers find “the best talent in Africa.” To bring this project to life, Churchill decided to work with Ber-trand Kima, another African Entrepreneur and together they created Njorku. It is the same basic idea as Goog-le Search: “Njorku browses other websites for jobs and stratifies them based on their respective countries.”

INSPIR’ START-UP

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When did you decide to work with Bertrand? Is it not difficult to work with someone you have never met?Churchill: We started working with Bertrand in 2010. When we talked online for a few weeks, he had decided to setup a web development company in the USA that will take projects from the USA to be executed in Cameroon. Therefore, it was more like growth for our existing partnership and before we launched Njorku together, we had over a year to perfect our collaboration and understand each other.

Tell us more about Njorku. What made you think that it was a viable idea?Bertrand Kima: Njorku means Elephant in Balue. In a sense it is a giant Elephant carrying and distribut-ing jobs to all job seekers all over Africa based on their qualifications. The whole Njorku idea came from Churchill Mambe Nanje back in 2009 and lat-er in 2010, he called me up to share the idea and asked if I was willing to join him in making it big. I agreed without hesitating. My agreement was not only based on how good the idea was, but also on whom I was dealing with. I had heard and read a lot about Churchill and his good works but never seen him in person even right now as we speak, we have never met. Churchill then handed me the role of Managing Director where I handle most of the Business related issues and investors relations as well. The Njorku project is a very good idea firstly in that it will serve as a direct channel of commu-nications between thousands of employers and job seekers all over Africa through its web and mobile platforms. Job seekers will have an opportunity to have a one-on-one relationship with the hiring personnel of each company. Job seekers will save themselves some energy from trekking from one office to another searching for jobs since they will have the ability to contact thousands of employers on one single Njorku platform. Job notifications will be delivered to them through their emails and mo-bile phones. Companies will also have that luxury of choosing from thousands of qualified candidates for their vacancies. The greatest benefit is the di-rect communications between the job seekers and employers on one platform. Besides bringing jobs to job seekers, we will guide them towards getting the jobs for which they are qualified on a one-on-one basis. In the same way, with our experts, we will provide optional assistance to employers as they

decide on whom to hire from the Njorku platform.

What do you think about the human resources in-dustry in your country, and in Africa?Churchill The Human resource industry in Africa is still very much untouched. Many companies are gaining interest in Africa and technology in Africa is on the rise. So a lot of companies will face HR prob-lems they haven’t faced in the past and so will need highly reliable, scalable and efficient solutions that will help carry their load as they grow in the African markets.

What is your opinion about unemployment in Af-rica?Bertrand: I think one of the biggest issues behind unemployment in Africa is the lack of communica-tions. Job seekers do not know where to go, and when to go when searching for jobs. Most of them, even those who are qualified, do not know how to present their knowledge and abilities on a resume and because of that, the few that are hired get to do too much work in order to cover the unfilled po-sitions. On the employer’s part, they lack the right means of communicating towards job seekers. Most job seekers in Africa are youths who spend the greatest portion of their time browsing the net. They have little or no time for radio, TV, or news-papers. Grabbing their attention will mean going through Internet platforms rather than any other media outlet. Njorku is here to make that happen.

What is the work model at Njorku, since you are not in Cameroon like Churchill?Bertrand: Njorku is registered and runs an office here in the state of Maryland and of course each of the countries we cover will run at least one office in the nearest future. The headquarter is in Buea, South West Region of Cameroon. The Baltimore of-fice handles business and investment related issues, and some other minor details. In addition to this, it stands as a satellite to investors and partners to see all the outcomes of the business at any given time with no hassle; ensuring transparency.

As a CEO, what do you exactly do at Njorku?Churchill: Njorku is a startup, so I do pretty much everything, from technical to business affairs. I am basically on top of everything and I dabble in many things from design, programming, engineering, in-vestors, communication, business development, etc

INSPIR’ START-UP

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

What steps have you followed to build your team?Churchill: I am a seasoned developer and this is my second time building a technology team. I integrate people that are passion-ate about Africa and are very smart. I go for passion and intelligence. In my opinion, you cannot go wrong by bringing these two to-gether.

What are the different steps to follow when building up a business like Njorku? Bertrand: We went through a whole lot of steps in order to come up with Njorku, how-ever I will mention the 3 main steps for a general perspective. First you need a busi-ness plan to identify how successful the busi-ness will be by answering questions like how much capital is required, what is your target audience and the benefits of this business to this audience. Secondly, you need to plan on how to get finances for your business. You need to decide either on selling shares or going for a loan. No matter what you decide , you need to have a backup plan because you never know what could come up. Finally, you need to decide on a legal form of the busi-ness; partnership, LLC, corporation, or a non-

profit, then get registered and obtain a tax Identification Number.

The website and the company have to be le-galized of course. What was the process?Bertrand: To start, Njorku has been legalized in the United States, Cameroon, and some other countries. However, achieving legal statuses in all the countries we serve is one of our priorities. We intend on doing that slowly as we get these countries covered by the platform, especially as soon as we are ready to acquire a physical location in each country.

Do you think that there are other ways to start a business like yours?Bertrand: If there are many ways to catch a mouse, then there are many ways to do al-most everything. Besides it all depends on who is doing it and of course people do think differently, have different backgrounds, ide-as and have access to different resources. So, yes, there could be many other ways to start up a business like Njorku. The way we start-ed Njorku was based on our collective ideas and resources.

INSPIR’ START-UP

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

What are the technical resources need-ed to build a website?Churchill: This question is an endless list. So I will state the basics: you need a domain name, a web server and then you need to have a development com-puter. It should contain a development server and programming IDEs like Dreamweaver, Net beans, Eclipse, and design packages like fireworks and Photoshop. With that, you are set to go.

How do you finance the company? Bertrand: At this point, no form of loans is of interest to us – there are no specific reasons for that, it is just the case. We have and are still talking with a good number of interested investors (both foreign and local) and other in-dividuals who are interested in joining the team. As of now, we have a Cana-dian based partner who has invested in Njorku. We hope on getting more in-vestment funds in the near future.

What are the traps when building up this type of company and what are the difficulties to be expected? Bertrand: The traps and difficulties again all depend on who is doing it. It takes a lot of skills, time, stress, and courage to start up a business like this especially when there is no profit com-ing in. We are all young guys still eager to enjoy this stage of life, so it tends to be hard giving away all or part of the “youthful life” in exchange for a bright-er future not only for the population we are targeting, but for us as well. We all need to make money for ourselves plus we have other important obliga-tions to fulfill, yet our Elephant (Njorku) needs to survive. Well, the good thing is that Churchill is able and willing to accommodate that and he also has been our inspirational machine up till this point. With me here in Baltimore, it feels heavy, being a full time student, and having to work full time to keep up with bills and other obligations. I be-lieve things will be much easier on me after my graduation in December and even easier once Njorku goes beyond success.

INSPIR’ START-UP

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

When it had to select ambassadors for the millenium develop-ment goals (MDG), the United Nations did not hesitate to choose Andy Nziengui. Born in 1984, Andy is a Gabonese who believes that young Africas have to take actions in order to change things. He also belongs to the 115 young leaders who have been received by president Obama in 2010 for the Young African Leaders Forum.

ANDY NZIENGUI: The power of Youth

INSPIR’ POLITICS

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For those who do not know you, who is Andy Roland Nziengui?

Andy Nziengui: I define myself as a young leader engaged in promoting the Millenni-um Development Goals (MDG), policies and programs for youth in Africa and worldwide. I am 28 years old. I graduated in Political Sci-ences and International Relations from the University of Jean Moulin Lyon III. I also hold a Master in Strategic Management and a Bachelor of Business Administration. In 2004, I joined the International Youth Parliament Oxfam in Sydney, and then I was Coptic by UNDP to be a young leader, United Nations Ambassador for the MDGs. I was granted the Francophonie Price for Education awarded by the Paul Gerin-La Joie foundation based in Canada. In addition, I received the Excel-lence African Award in 2005. I was President of the Network of Young Leaders in Gabon and co-founder of the International Network of young francophone volunteers.

What prompted you to commit to the de-velopment of Africa?

Andy: I was inspired by the voluntary com-mitment of some of my teachers, Mr. Kalgora and Mr. Bassowou, who straddled us within the literacy Club of our school. Internation-al Youth Parliament of Oxfam has been a catalyst because I have been impressed by the testimony of many young people from around the world. The lack of specific pro-grams for youth pushed me to stay a while in Gabon, to make things happen in my country and in Africa. I am also convinced and seduced by the ideals of global justice who believe that another world is possible, that change is a matter of men and policies and that at our level we can make a differ-ence, because changing ourselves is chang-ing the world.

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You are considered a young African leader with your positions in the “Jeunes Volon-taires Francophones” (JVF), a goodwill am-bassador for the U.N development goals and your prestigious position of vice presi-dent of the Youth Pan African Union. How do you manage all these functions? Are all these features allow you to bring the voices of Gabonese youth and more generally of African youth in the ears of our leaders?

Andy: As the spokesperson for the youth, I try to do my best in regard to advocacy and resource mobilization. I ran the JVF’s network from 2004 to 2007, and then I re-tired to give others a chance. Throughout the past three years, the Pan African Youth Union has played a major role in the field of youth development and as vice president, I was deployed for the launch of many initia-tives. First, the decade of youth (2009-2018), and with the African Youth Charter effective since 2009. Then I attended the Internation-al Youth Year (2010-2011) and the Summit of Heads of States dedicated to youth in June 2011 in Malabo, where on the Heads of State. I currently work for a partnership agreement between African youth and international in-

stitutions, which will lead to youth empow-erment and the implementation of the Afri-can Youth Charter.

Knowing that young people are often stig-matized because of their lack of experience; do you think it makes sense to give them po-sitions of responsibility?Andy: The very recent Jasmine Revolution in North Africa proves that youth is truly at the center of the multiple crises facing by the world today. Youth is at the same time challenge, actor and victim of these attacks. It represents an enormous mass easy to ma-nipulate. To avoid unpleasant surprises, it is urgent to think in order to give youth the opportunity to take charge and be at the heart of decisions. As far as I’m concerned, youth must be involved in the management of political and economic conflicts. It plays and must play a major role in the develop-ment strategies and programs. It is in this sense that the Pan African Youth Union is campaigning for a strong representation of young people to parliament and the Eco-nomic and Social Council.

INSPIR’ POLITICS

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

In your opinion, what is the role youth should play today?

Andy: The African youth is already playing a leading role in the world. Indeed, by its rapid population growth, globally estimated at a billion people, its two billion expected in 2050 and four billion announced for 2100, is an open secret to say that youth is the backbone in Africa. It must also be the spur bearer of values and a weapon to defend the ideals that will lead to the United States of Africa.

How do you see our continent in 20 years?

Andy: I would just say that in 20 years, I see Africa richer and more powerful. I see Africa stronger than the United States of America, more enterprising than the European Union and the Arab Emirates. But this requires rec-ognition by leaders of their generation fail-ure, acceptance of the principle of renewal by politicians and the leadership of a new vi-sion at the top of States and within govern-ment. I also see a consolidated Africa, able to communicate and to negotiate in a trans-parent way with the rest of the world. I see Africa in peace everywhere with a well-edu-cated, well-trained and healthy youth. In 20 years, we will talk about the United States of Africa with Kiswahili as an official language.

What is your message for young people wanting to become politically active?

Andy: You’ve probably heard this quote from Mary Kay Ash: “There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch what happens and those who wonder what happened. We all have a choice.” Ms. Ash reveals that the first category of individuals has a greater range of

choices than the second and third, because they have decided to ACT. The second watch without getting involved, while the latter re-alize that they have missed something. They are, by force of circumstances compelled to get carried away and track the movement of others, without having control over events. The first ones are leaders because they give a direction that matches their aspirations. They decide to drive rather than to be led. Their willingness to act gives them an edge, they see opportunities before others. They do not expect change, they create it! This is the way I ask young people who want to get involved politically to act. Realizing a dream, transforming an idea into action, making a decision to act, being engaged with courage, motivation, confidence and determination… Here is what it takes to be-come the leader of their own lives. This is my message : when African youth will rise up, the world will shine with a thousand lights!

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What is Beni American University about (BAU)?

Beni American University is an online univer-sity that focuses on Sub-Saharan African Stu-dents. We are trying to provide opportunities for students who do not already have access to quality learning. It will be a hybrid Uni-versity since lectures, quizzes, assignments and tests will be done online. Midterms and Final examinations will be conducted offline in centers.

What are the entry requirements?

The entry requirements are the standard European Academic entry requirements: Above 70% score in a Standard English Proficiency Test (TOEFL/IELTS), Mini-mum of 6 credits in relevant subjects in High School Diploma, and finally an en-trance essay and interview. This is an abridged requirement focusing on aca-demics.

What majors will be available?

We will have two majors: Business and Man-agement Information Systems. Our focus on these two majors will be on Entrepreneurship 2.0. We will begin with Associate degrees be-fore giving Bachelor Degrees. We will also provide some professional certifications.

What about tuition?

Tuition will be made affordable. We have carefully put that into consideration from the start of this project. It will also be reflected in the price that we will be putting per se-mester. It is cheaper to join BAU than joining any other private school in Nigeria. However, we provide the same quality of education or even better when compared.

Gossy Ukanwoke is definitely good at providing solutions to problems linked to edu-cation. After students circle, Gossy’s new venture is a Hybrid University available for African Students. He never waits for guarantee to launch a venture but guarantees that Beni American University will provide quality education to its students.

Interview By Valerie F.

4 QUESTIONS TO...

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

4 QUESTIONS TO...

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

INSPIRE AFRIKA - APRIL 2012

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