Speakers at this year’s edition of The Footprint left participants yearning for more as they walked them through the numerous opportunities available in the technology industry.
[contextly_sidebar id=”8jhusgGd8GG67inQ2ZWH2iXnvAaCwckH”]The participants were taken through practical experiences that will help them stem the tide in the rather rewarding but challenging entrepreneurial world.
The Footprint which was the first outdoor event of the Citi Business Festival, saw five of the best brains in the technology industry interacting with tertiary students and other participants with an interest in technology entrepreneurship.
The CEO of Edel Technologies, Ethel Coffie’s presentation highlighted the need to build trust to maintain clients in the technology industry.
“I know for a fact that ninety percent of the clients that met me or heard me speak. They understand the depth of the knowledge that I have done,” she stated.
She added, “When you engender trust and people believe that you deliver on time and on budget, it doesn’t matter how many people are there howling and screaming, your clients will always come to you.”
For his part, the Managing Partner of SMSGH, Alex Adjei Brahm urged participants to be able to build on talents and passion in order to be able to succeed.
“In my industry talent is really important…technology will play a crucial role in how we engage. We must take a critical look at how society will look like and who will work in that future,”
He however stressed on the need to provide individuals with a holistic educational system which will empower them to fully realize their potential,
“While formal education is great and has contributed to the development of the country it has in a way dislocated many people from their natural talents…you will have to go looking for talents, they are not just lying around. You will have to create circumstances but you will also have to imagine that education will be the way that this should happen. Unlike the other paradigms like agriculture, industrial or manufacturing ages, technology relies solely on talent,”he further noted.
Meanwhile a lecturer and Technologist, Anthony Agmore intimated that as young entrepreneurs, they should be able to identify problems and work at developing solutions to them.
“…It doesn’t have to be necessarily you bringing the whole thing fresh…You can be an employee and realize that there is a problem in your organisation and that you want to solve it…You also need to find out reward systems,” he stressed.
Drawing on his personal experiences with a background in the Visual Arts, the co-founder of ispace, Fiifi Baidoo explained how his internship and vacation jobs culminated in his current profession of using technology to solve societal needs.
“Whenever I was given a role or assignment, I just welcomed it and I did work for various industries in finance, education, telecom space as well…it is very important that while at school you make quality use of your time. Do not make money the priority make sure that you go out there to learn something.”
Meanwhile Data and devices Manager at MTN Ghana, Abdul Latif Issahaku admitted that the mobile penetration within the African region is growing at an increasing rate. As a result, he believes numerous opportunities are presented to entrepreneurs to develop solutions.
“Statistics show that in 2015 the number of minutes that people spend on their mobile devices was twice as much time as they did in 2013, this is because there is opportunity there because they have interesting apps.”
“The apps industry globally is projected at 57 billion dollars and Africa has not had a good share in that. I think it is about time that Africa pays attention and take her share of that,” Mr. Issahaku observed.
Participants gain knowledge
Some participants who spoke to Citi Business News also could not hide their excitement and the exposure that the event gave on their respective future professions,
One participant remarked, “I learnt a lot about entrepreneurship and I commend Citi FM for that.”
Another also said, “I am really happy for being here and I have really learnt a lot…this has helped me as initially I was afraid of taking risks,”
“I’ve understood that to be a tech entrepreneur you should able to know where you are and where you want to get to,” a third participant intimated.
This year’s edition of The Footprint was on the theme, “Technology Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century.”
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana