Liberia: TRIBE Fuels Young Entrepreneurs with Knowledge, Networks at Symposium
Technology, Research, and Innovation for Business Education (TRIBE) has convened a one-day entrepreneurship symposium through its Idees Startup Incubator aimed at fostering the growth and success of young Liberian businesses.
The day-long entrepreneurship symposium, which was held on Wednesday, December 20, serves as a platform for young Liberian aspiring business owners to transform their innovative ideas into sustainable ventures.
The Idées Startup Incubator provides a nurturing environment where participants receive comprehensive support and guidance throughout their entrepreneurial journey. The symposium offers a range of resources, including mentorship from seasoned industry professionals, access to cutting-edge technology, and networking opportunities with potential investors and partners.
Under the theme “Improving startups’ growth and development in Liberia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem,” the Entrepreneurship Symposium created a platform for its first cohort of Idees Startup Incubators to sit on a panel to discuss the impact of startups on their personal development, business modeling, market validation, as well as understanding their post-incubation plan for further growth.
Through this program, TRIBE aims to address the challenges faced by young entrepreneurs in Liberia, such as limited access to capital, a lack of business knowledge, and inadequate infrastructure. It was held in partnership with Pacha Soap, based in the United States of America.
By equipping them with the necessary tools and skills, TRIBE empowers these individuals to overcome these obstacles and build successful businesses that contribute to the country's economic growth.
As part of its business ecosystem advancement plan, the TRIBE 2023 Entrepreneurship Symposium discussed the sector in terms of growth, challenges, and problem-solving models and also brought together stakeholders from diverse sectors, including the iCampus chief executive officer, Luther Jeke; chief executive officer of J-Palm, Mahmud Johnson; and chief executive officer of Nimba Ventures, Jared Lankah, to share ideas that link businesses to the rest of the ecosystem.
The young entrepreneurs under the Idées Startup Incubator expressed gladness for what they termed an intense knowledge-building process for the Liberian business community, implemented by TRIBE with support from Pacha Soap.
In different testimonies, the incubators explained the challenges faced by each of them at the start of their different business ventures and the growth achieved from the incubation process, which included team building, leadership, and business branding, among others.
TRIBE CEO, Wainright Acquoi, who spoke during the launch, explained that Liberian businesses are faced with many challenges that need the intervention of partners and other actors to shift the paradigm for the good of the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Acquoi said problems facing Liberian businesses, including the lack of access to financial assistance for young entrepreneurs, limited mentorship and training, as well as the limitation of innovative and infrastructural facilities to accommodate businesses, are situations that should be placed under a national business agenda for the growth of the Liberian business sector.
He said the Idées Startup Incubation implemented by his organization brought together young entrepreneurs for intensive training in both theoretical and practical application, as well as sightseeing, to mitigate the statistics that local young Liberian entrepreneurs struggle with the setting up of a formal business structure, which impedes the raising of capital for their ventures.
Also, Jared Lankah, CEO of Nimba Ventures Inc., a youth-led agribusiness in Nimba County, who is one of the beneficiaries, explained that his business, from all indications, will experience a major transformation as a result of the knowledge obtained from TRIBE mentorship training.
“It is a good thing for young, enterprising Liberians to form a part of these kinds of programs that actually build capacities and create avenues to becoming good at building their businesses with the best agendas,” Jared said. “This incubation process was an amazing program teaching on structuring our various businesses to make more impacts in the entrepreneurship ecosystem.”
Linda Seton of Eco Soap Liberia Inc. said, “As beneficiaries of this program, we are going to explore and make our institution great with the lessons learned from these trainings. With the support that is also expected from TRIBE and partners, mainly Pacha Soap, we will get equipment that will take Eco Soap to the next level in the coming days.”
For his part, Nimba County’s newly elected Representative Taa Wongbe motivated young entrepreneurs with a story of engaging businesses of any kind with a positive mindset to have the sector meet its expected outcomes.
Forming part of the different panel discussions of the TRIBE entrepreneurship symposium were Rory Donohoe, Deputy Mission Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Mai Bright Urey, the Chief Executive Officer of CylMA Holdings and Agro-processing Company; and longtime businessman Taa Wongbe, Representative-elect of Electoral District 9, Nimba County.
Meanwhile, at the end of the symposium, TRIBE also certified several entrepreneurs who had completed their training.