GAMEPLAN Podcast

Agriculture constitutes a significant portion of the economies of all African countries, and as a sector, it contributes towards major priorities across the continent, such as eradicating poverty and hunger, boosting intra-Africa trade and investments, rapid industrialization and economic diversification, sustainable resource and management, creating jobs, and fosters shared prosperity. The sector provides the continent with a huge potential to feed itself and eliminate hunger and food security, but also a major player in global food markets. This is where Bourgeon Agricultural Company comes in. The Nigeria-based integrated agricultural company has operational networks in the Benelux, Germany and other parts of Eastern Europe. The goal of the company is to fill in the gap between food production in Africa and the growing population of the continent. The company connects producers and consumers of agricultural produce within through various services that include cultivation, trading, processing, storage and distribution.

On this episode of Empact Mindset, my guest is Christelle van Amsterdam. She is Senior Business Development Consultant at Bourgeon Agricultural Company (Nigeria). Before then, she served as Information Technology Recruitment Consultant at the FSM Group and various other roles both in sales, recruitment and business development. On this episode, Christelle shares her insights on agricultural innovation as well as her experiences and journey as an entrepreneur.

A business model is a company's core strategy for profitably doing business. Business models generally provide key information on how the business intends to penetrate the market and the value it brings. What are some steps you can undertake to boost and enhance your current business model? In this episode of Tidbits, I share some key pointers. 

How relevant is diversity and inclusion in the job market today? In this episode, Kobi Ampoma shares with me his perspectives on the role of diversity in the talent acquisition process.  Kobi is a Netherlands-based human resource professional with almost 20 years of experience. He is the owner & director of JNL Recruitment and a strong believer in diversity & inclusion. In this sense, a key element in Kobi's work is supporting companies with recruitment efforts with diversity-focused hiring.

In addition to founding JNL Recruitment, Kobi is Talent Acquisition Lead at Otrium, an online fashion outlet marketplace featuring designer stores on one app. Mr Kobi has also served as Head of Talent Acquisition at Travix International and at similar roles with companies serving clients within Europe and around the world. 

There are times it seems there is debate as to whether to set up a business plan or business model. This is not an argument to be had. Both are useful and offer different but complementary possibilities. Both provide a solid start to the entrepreneurial initiative and of course depend on the requirements needed. In brief, the business model is a blueprint document, providing a pathway to running the business, while a business plan is a roadmap. I offer some pointers as to the differences and necessity of both in this episode. 

On this episode, Camara shared his perspectives on various pathways to African Diaspora engagement, especially as professionals and entrepreneurs. He also shared Omek’s psychographic segmentation of the African diaspora community as a strategic approach towards entrepreneurship development.  Camara is a social entrepreneur, economist and community organizer. Over the last 20 years, He has founded startups, built non-profit organizations, and played various leadership roles in community organizations. He is a strong believer in diversity and inclusion and a big advocate of representation. He enjoys bringing people from diverse backgrounds to work together toward a common goal. He is the Founder and CEO at Omek, an organization with the mission to unlock and share the talent, voices, and energy of the African diaspora. Camara shared his perspectives on various pathways to African Diaspora engagement, especially as professionals and entrepreneurs. He also shared Omek’s psychographic segmentation of the African diaspora community as a strategic approach towards entrepreneurship development. 

Over the last two decades, Africa has been on the rise. With large scale foreign investments and the return of the African Diaspora to the continent, Africa is now on the path towards growth and economic progress. The development of the innovation ecosystem within the continent is booming with several programs to support start-ups & early-stage entrepreneurs. Prospective entrepreneurs now have the opportunity to be supported by incubation hubs and business acceleration services in key sectors within the continent. The increasing expansion of the entrepreneurship ecosystem is serving as life-line to entrepreneurs at all levels of business development, especially as related to access to finance, growth strategies and access to the export market. 

What does it take to start and build a business in Ghana or Sub-Saharan Africa in general?.  For many prospective entrepreneurs both in Ghana and abroad, the experience could be quite daunting.  In this episode, I talk with Richard Yeboah, Project Director (Ghana Innovation Hub). 

The Hub offers business development services, physical working space, investment matchmaking and ecosystem support. The Hub supports the development of innovative businesses by enhancing the availability of support services and access to finance for startups and early-stage entrepreneurs. In addition, Mr Yeboah’s work at the Hub includes ensuring support in every aspect of the business development cycle towards business growth. In this episode, Richard shares his perspectives and passion for entrepreneurship, business development and investment in the sub-region. 

Joining me in this episode is Ms Kehinde. She discusses her background and entrepreneurial journey as an architect in Nigeria. What does it mean to be one of the few but growing numbers of women in the architectural sector in Nigeria? She shares her experiences and lessons she has faced and overcome in her career. As a young widow, mother of two and professional, Kehinde has over the last twelve years achieved various milestones that serve as a role model for young women entrepreneurs. The architectural sector in Nigeria, as in many parts of the world poses various challenges for designers and contract workers. Ms Kehinde shares some of the challenges and her vision to addressing them.

Ms Daramola Kehinde is an experienced consultant with over 10 years in architectural designs, project management, space planning and construction. She worked at several companies after graduation in 2008 before joining Elessy Nigeria Limited as Director. She is presently the Project Lead for Elessy Wood Works a subsidiary of Elessy Nigeria Limited. The subsidiary focuses on furniture works, especially on cabinet making. She is also the CEO of Zareph Home Essentials and Founder of TYWM (The Young Widows Might) Foundation, Nigeria.

She has acquired in the past 12 years, work experiences in various fields including in the Monitoring and Evaluation of World Bank Projects under the MDGs in Sokoto State, these she handled for two years.

With a Master’s Degree in Architecture from Covenant University of Nigeria, her post-graduate work experience includes contract bid preparation, monitoring and evaluation of projects, business development, preparation of valuation certificates of projects, designs and presentations of proposed drawings.

She is a registered member of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) and also a registered architect with the regulatory body for architects in Nigeria (ARCON).

This episode provides a few pointers on entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial mindset. We often think of entrepreneurship as something we do rather than a way of thinking. We think that it's simply an initiative that we take for generating revenue or business initiative that you undertake, but entrepreneurship goes beyond business. Entrepreneurship is a way of thinking. It is a way of harnessing your skills and abilities to add value to any kind of initiative you are engaged in or even in general in daily life. In other words, how could you be innovative in improving the flooring in your home or even in finding different ways of travelling to work or even contemplating different ways that we live our daily life? And so entrepreneurship really goes beyond the short term thinking of profit-making and business.

We would actually think of entrepreneurship even within the government. For example, how can the government be more innovative in generating revenue for public services, public works and everything else that has to do with improving the community? And so entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial mindset goes beyond simply making money. It's really that way of life. It's really a way of thinking. It's really a way of adding value to the processes that we engage in. This episode presents some key tips and tools you will find useful.

Empact Mindset, a podcast for entrepreneurs and professionals looking to boost their impact and business. We bring together the best minds to help you grow your start-up and be the best version of yourself. The podcast is aimed at uncovering the success mindset. We look at the secrets behind individual transformation and brand uniqueness. In other words, what makes us relentless? How could individual and start-ups develop and leverage a signature voice to stand out in the marketplace? 

In this first episode, I reflect on my personal journey towards personal transformation and self-mastery. I believe the proper starting point in serving others, especially in the areas of life coaching or mindset coaching is having had a good understanding of personal identity, motivations and clarity. In other words, you should have done the work first and then serve others with your gift.  The episode also provides a glimpse of The Empact Mindset Podcast which is aimed at uncovering the success mindset. We look at the secrets behind individual transformation and brand uniqueness. In other words, what makes us relentless? How could individual and start-ups develop and leverage a signature voice to stand out in the marketplace? Each episode will explore the inspiring stories behind how people grow a business, an idea, or a movement.

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