while in sub-Saharan African

motivation is highly depend-

ent on financial benefits and

position, their developed

counterparts seek for self

discovery and eventual con-

tribution of self to service, it

might take them years to

come up with discoveries of

revolutions in health, educa-

tion and technology, they do

not feel deterred, they pur-

sue result. What we face

today among emerging busi-

ness leaders is lack of vision,

not for profitability, but of

selfishness and negligible plans

for sustainability and retainer-

ship of legacy. Emerging busi-

ness leaders should look

beyond profit and commit to

seeking long term pursuit of

innovative contribution,

which would lead to a great

consequence of balance and

stability. Tony Elumelu of

Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur-

ship foundation who recently

launched the pilot phase of

his incubator program to fund

ten thousand (10, 000) Afri-

can start-ups in the fifty four

(54) countries with $100

million over a period of ten

(10) years, which would pro-

vide one (1) million jobs

across Africa and contribute

at least $10, 000, 000, 000

annual revenue growth across

Africa.

Introduction

Leaders of the future will face challenges which will make their jobs

more complex. This presentation will take on some of those key

challenges with practical information and best practice examples to

guide participants through the leadership development process re-

quired to build sustainable values in individuals who would eventually

subject their innovation to creative problem solving, to benefit their

communities and eventually create global brands.

The Innovation Challenge

Entrepreneurship and Innovation are important engine of growth, employ-

ment and social cohesion in Nigeria. However, similar to the innovation

experience globally, it continues to face harsh environmental conditions.

Small businesses face different challenges, an MSME (Micro Small and Me-

dium Entreprise) study in 2014 which covered over 3,000 entrepreneurs, 18

banks and government/ multilateral agencies, discovered in their findings the

top three critical challenges faced by this segment, as: non- conducive ena-

bling environment (80%), inconsistent government policies (56%) and lack of

access to finance/ capital (45%).

Enabling environment is a combination of the following factors: quality of

infrastructure, access to market, access to modern technology and low in-

vestment in research and development.

It is important to note that enabling environment and favorable government

policies have a direct impact on the ability of Small Businesses to access

finance.

Nigeria’s Makeup of Business Leaders

Nigerians are very entrepreneurial. According to the 2013 Global Entrepre-

neurship Monitor, 41 percent of working-age Nigerians were involved in an

early-stage business in the preceding three and a half years, and 81 percent

of Nigerians surveyed see entrepreneurship as a desirable career choice.

Nigeria ranks in the top ten countries for these measures. Government

programmes aimed at supporting entrepreneurship have proven very popu-

lar. For example, the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWiN)

programme received about 60,000 applications, provides training for 6,000,

and mentors 1,200 young entrepreneurs each year.

Nigeria’s Emerging workforce population

Many aging advanced economies, particularly in Europe, face the prospect of

slow growth due to flat or declining populations,

but Nigeria and other devel-

oping economies have large

and growing working-age

populations, which can be

drivers of growth. Nigeria

already has the ninth-largest

working-age population in the

world, and by 2030 the num-

ber of Nigerians of working

age (15 to 64) is expected to

be 50 percent higher than

today.

SELF AWARENESS

“A man with formal education is

not good enough, one with fi-

nancial education is not good

enough, another with vocational

education is not good enough, a

man with self-awareness is good

enough”

We have examined some of

the brick walls to innovation

and entrepreneurship, how-

ever, most of them are only

contributing factors, a lot has

to do with individual makeup,

belief, philosophy and motiva-

tion. Abraham Maslow’s hier-

archy of needs explains that

at the bottom of the ladder is

the craving for survival, while

at the top, craving is for self

actualization. Most youths in

developing nations strive for

survival, while their counter-

parts in developed nations

strive to contribute to their

economy. There is a sharp

difference in attitude of

youths in different climes,

PROMOTING ENTERPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION IN BUILDING ECONOMIC LEADERS FOR TOMORROW

3rd & 4th August, 2015

YOUNG NIGERIAN CEO’S CONFERENCE

sulted in big skills gaps

between upper manage-

ment and the workforce.

African business leaders

not only need to be role

models in executing pro-

jects; they also need to

mentor their teams to

apply these disciplines and

cascade them further

down the company.

In addition to these solu-

tions, pioneering compa-

nies have discovered that

winning in Africa requires

an entrepreneurial mind-

set, allowing them to easily

adapt to unexpected road-

blocks and opportunities,

take higher risks than else-

where and follow gut-level

instincts to make less-

informed decisions. To

win in Africa, you don’t

need to throw out every-

thing you’ve learned, but

you do need to foster a

culture of boldness, agility

and resourcefulness.

_________________

“When you are young,

work to learn, not to

earn”

Robert Kiyosaki.

Thank you.

This is what sustainability and service means to an average entrepreneur in

pursuit of innovation and wealth creation.

LEADERSHIP SKILL FOR TOMORROW’S LEADERS

Promasidor’s creative infrastructure solution: product inno-

vation.

An African dairy, beverage and food enhancement company, devel-

oped Cowbell, a milk powder packaged in small sachets, in which

they replaced the animal fat with vegetable fat to give it a longer shelf

life, thereby diminishing the dependency on a cold supply chain. Afri-

can children put the powder directly on their tongues, to overcome

obstacles about finding sanitary water. Promasidor now is a leader in

Nigeria’s powdered milk market.

Indispensable skills for future leaders To drive their companies’ long-term growth in Africa while also achieving quick wins, business leaders need several specific skills. I would highlight three 1. Critical thinking is crucial for innovation and for sustaining Afri-can resources for the generations to come. Managers who can ana-lyze and evaluate differing views could make the difference between success and failure for a business in Africa. They are most likely to learn these skills on the job and at business school, given the poor state of many African countries’ primary, secondary and higher edu-cation systems. Top executives in African enterprises also need to encourage critical and collaborative thinking among employees who have less privileged educations. This is not an easy task but it could be the difference between a company’s success and failure.

2. Expecting the unexpected is skill number two. Managers in

Africa must be able to deal with disruption—not only from competi-

tors, but also from political uncertainty and social unrest. Businesses

pretty much anywhere in the world have a yearly budget and a plan

for the next three to five years. African companies have these too,

but their leaders also need to have additional scenarios for when

external events don’t go as planned.

They must be aware of

social, political and eco-

nomic trends in each

country and try to antici-

pate events and risks that

could affect business per-

formance. This requires

talented leaders with very

deep knowledge and un-

derstanding of the realities

around them. This leader-

ship style is not always

understood outside the

continent, and there are

sometimes tensions when

a multinational firm’s head-

quarters asks an African

subsidiary to follow stan-

dard procedures without

taking local or regional

realities into account.

3. Developing execu-

tion capabilities is be-

coming increasingly impor-

tant. Managers everywhere

need to identify problems,

decide on a possible solu-

tion and put this into prac-

tice. The specific challenge

for business leaders in

Africa is ensuring that

plans get executed from

top to bottom within an

organization. This is no

easy task, since poor edu-

cation systems have re-

Emmanuel Otori is a Public Speaker, Author and Trainer on Leadership, Business and Management. His emergence

into National prominence is a result of the delivery of highly inspiring speeches in Conferences, Master classes

and on the Media. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Market Advantage Consulting ,and Co-founder, Business On

Webs, LLC. He is reaching his audience in the Corporate and Non-corporate world through his high tension mes-

sages in his Live Full Magazine series. He resides in Abuja, Nigeria.

View his expert’s profile via fb.com/otori.emmanuel

Email: emmanuelotori@zoho.com

Phone Number: 0803 505 1994