Young African And European People Leading

Maija Luukka Local Group Lappeenranta

Alina Weckström

YOUNG AFRICAN AND EUROPEAN PEOPLE

LEADING CHANGE AND TURNING COVID-19 INTO OPPORTUNITY

Ambitious Africa has created super-connectivity between bright young people from Africa and Europe so they can solve local problems in African countries and drive change together focusing on the Three Es: Education, Entrepreneurship, and Entertainment. The initiative is working to heighten the visibility of African startups in Europe through cross-continental online networking events. Ambitious Africa is a new initiative founded by novel impact projects are started that feed off the young Finnish people, including ESTIEMers (!) collaboration between the African and European which brings together driven youth across the youth. The first national day event for Kenya in April cultures and borders of Africa and Europe who reached 500 participants. Any of these Ambitious are hungry for change. When COVID-19 hit, the Africa events are a great way to learn more about initiative turned a challenge into an opportunity. what is offered, meet interesting people, and get a Its founders realised they could easily bring feel for Ambitious Africa’s dynamic network. people together from these two parts of the world, as online meetings quickly became the norm. They A mutually beneficial exchange between Africa kickstarted the initiative in April 2020 through a and Europe series of online matchmaking events. Ambitious Africa is already established in 25 African countries. Supporting Africa by sharing European solutions Ten more are in the works. The ambitious goal is is a sustainable way of empowering young African to have established national teams in all fifty-four entrepreneurs to realise their ideas, according African countries. Going forward, Ambitious Africa to the initiative. It allows mutually beneficial continues to work on different projects, including exchanges between the countries where cultural collaborative events. differences can be used as an advantage for creating new solutions. The ethos of Ambitious Solution-focused matchmaking events with Africa is based on the understanding that African Ambitious Africa’s national teams countries are capable of solving their own problems and providing value to Europe. Through the events, African entrepreneurs can leverage their knowledge, expand their networks The initiative focuses on problem-solving using and showcase startups to potential investors. The the latest insights in the areas of education, African countries involved each form a national entrepreneurship, and entertainment, which youth-driven team. Each team’s function is to Ambitious Africa sees as some of the Nordics’ core be a “super connector” between the continents strengths. The goal is to create conditions and bringing people together to make the change. opportunities for young people in Africa which For example, they organize their own events or a will propel the societies forward in a progressive, ‘national day’, where the country representatives peaceful, and playful way, without taking away and participants, which include entrepreneurs, from their cultures and traditions. government officials, educators, and investors, zoom in on country-specific challenges. During Current projects the event, solutions to the challenges are brainstormed. European companies that already The Ambitious Africa network stretches within a have solutions to problems discussed during the range of different industries, such as agriculture. event are then connected to a country in Africa In Rwanda, Ambitious Africa stands behind and vice versa. If there is no existing solution, innovative agri-startups such as HydroFeeds. In

Rwanda, the animal feed which farmers use to raise cattle is expensive because it is usually imported. HydroFeeds has developed a system that allows farmers to effectively grow their own wheat-based feed in their own backyards regardless of the season. The system uses minimal resources and reduces farmers’ costs by up to 51%, leaving them with more money to sustain their businesses and feed communities. You can also follow us on Instagram:

Another industry Ambitious Africa has a strong foothold is the gaming industry. Douglas Ogeto, a representative from Team Kenya, is the founder of a video game publishing company called LudiqueWorks. They have partnered with institutions for higher learning to engage youth using impact games to make learning more fun and motivating. Beyond that, the initiative has a growing number of incubators, accelerators, and forward-thinking education projects all over Africa. Ambitious Africa is not limited to one particular industry. The focus is always on making an impact. In addition to other projects, the initiative will help its associated African startups streamline their products to Finnish and European business networks using the Startup Includer platform, If you´re curious to learn more about Ambitious Africa and even join us, go to visit our website and connect with us:

giving investors direct links to the startups.

LudiqueWorks HydroFeeds