In this newsletter:
Editorial
Program News
Profiles
Events and Fundraising Efforts
Did you know?
What Can I Do?
Editoral: Celebrate with us!
Editorial
Program News
Profiles
Events and Fundraising Efforts
Did you know?
What Can I Do?
Editoral: Celebrate with us!
Sauder Africa Initiative is starting a new tradition. Every year, in the month of November, we are going to invite our friends, supporters, donors and everyone passionate about the international development to our annual celebration event. This year's theme: Building Entrepreneurial Success in the Kenyan Slums.
This is your chance to learn what we have been up to for the past months, be part of passionate discussions and connect with people who share the same interests. We hope that you will leave our event energized and add a number new connections to your circle of friends. You can read more about our event in the Events and Fundraising Efforts.
We would like to also point your attention to a great article in the Did you know? section written by Steve Hosein.
This is your chance to learn what we have been up to for the past months, be part of passionate discussions and connect with people who share the same interests. We hope that you will leave our event energized and add a number new connections to your circle of friends. You can read more about our event in the Events and Fundraising Efforts.
We would like to also point your attention to a great article in the Did you know? section written by Steve Hosein.
Program news: Our program was selected to be one of the highlighted projects at UBC
The Student Leadership Conference (SLC) is UBC’s largest student-run conference, with over 1000 delegates. We are very happy to announce that Sauder Africa Initiative was selected to be one of the Highlighted projects for the 2012 SLC.
The topic of the January 14th, 2012 SLC is BREAKTHROUGH. SLC challenges participants to pursue a goal that they are passionate about, one thing that nothing will stop them from achieving.
The Student Leadership Conference (SLC) is UBC’s largest student-run conference, with over 1000 delegates. We are very happy to announce that Sauder Africa Initiative was selected to be one of the Highlighted projects for the 2012 SLC.
The topic of the January 14th, 2012 SLC is BREAKTHROUGH. SLC challenges participants to pursue a goal that they are passionate about, one thing that nothing will stop them from achieving.
The Highlighted Projects showcase original, innovative initiatives that have been launched by students and/or community group. This is an opportunity for their projects and ideas to be presented in front of a group of fellow peers and alumni who will provide valuable feedback and support. If you want to volunteer, participate or get otherwise engaged, check out the SLC website.
Profiles: Absalom Kiragu, Kenyan student, 2010 Class
When we met Absalom during the summer of 2011 to catch up and hear all his news, our first question to him was: "So, what is the plan?" His reply made us laugh: "Plan A and B is to make it."
Absalom is 26 but when you meet him in his business suit, he could easily be mistaken for a serious banker. And as you will find out reading further, he is a successful businessman. However, even with two businesses up and running, his mother still thinks that he does not have a proper job.
When we met Absalom during the summer of 2011 to catch up and hear all his news, our first question to him was: "So, what is the plan?" His reply made us laugh: "Plan A and B is to make it."
Absalom is 26 but when you meet him in his business suit, he could easily be mistaken for a serious banker. And as you will find out reading further, he is a successful businessman. However, even with two businesses up and running, his mother still thinks that he does not have a proper job.He is a co-founder of Kaizen Solutions (established in 2008) a software company which provides software solutions for real estate and employs 5 people. When I asked him where did he get the capital he simply said: from the first sale I made. His second business is more of a social enterprise. As not many pregnant women and young mothers have access to proper health care, his second company is trying to provide it for them – through cell phone text messaging. (If you read our previous newsletter, Kenya is one of the countries with the highest mobile phone penetration in the world). In principle, clients sign up for the text message service and based on how far they are in their pregnancy or how old is their newborn baby, they receive a daily text message how to take care of the baby and themselves.
But his day does not end with his companies. In April 2011, he co-established the first national Society of Software Developers of Kenya.
When we spoke, he had only one request. To put him in touch with business angels/venture capitalists so he can expand his business. With his abilities, I can only wonder what he will achieve but it will be an interesting journey to follow. We will certainly keep you updated.
We also invited a very special guest, Mr. Richard Gold to share his experiences from the world of international development. You can read his profile here.
While we encourage and welcome donations of any kind, we would prefer that you bring a ‘plus 1’ in an effort to spread the word about the Initiative’s work to empower young people with the entrepreneurial skills to develop their own businesses in slums of Nairobi. Register here.
by Steve Hosein, MBA. Traveling team Member 2011.
Poverty is easily and immediately observed, but other realizations come only after spending more time in the slum. Without desks or a table in the “classroom” (only roughly constructed, low, wooden benches were available) one student, a young father, struggled to take notes due to having only one arm. About half-way through the 3-week SE101 program, we learned that he had lost his arm during the politically motivated tribal violence that shook Kenya following the 2007 election. Gunshots just down the road from our classroom and the arrival of riot police provided us with a fresh and startling example of such politico-tribal violence this past August. We also started noticing our student entrepreneurs making entries for “security” in their cash flows; what we assumed to be amounts for padlocks, better lighting, or perhaps a security guard turned out to be “protection” money extorted by local gangs. It gets you thinking about the big picture in Kenya and how best to operate under these constraints; and more importantly, as business educators, you wonder how to advise the young people living there.
Kenya is perceived as having a serious problem with corruption. Transparency.org gave Kenya a score of 2.1, where 0 is “highly corrupt” and 10, “very clean”. For perspective, Somalia was the most corrupt of the 178 countries with a score of 1.1. Saudi Arabia scored 4.7, the US scored 7.1, and Canada scored the sixth best with 8.9. The “cleanest” score was 9.3 (shared by Denmark, New Zealand, and Singapore).
The Sauder Africa Initiative (SAI) - though only a small, modestly funded team - acts at the intersection of key socioeconomic issues: poverty, corruption, education, politics, and economic growth. These major issues are intimately connected with one another and as a result, the SAI team faces operational challenges but also helps improve life for those in the slums. You might be surprised to learn the ways in which the SAI team affects, and is affected by, the socioeconomic climate of Kenya.
Kenya is perceived as having a serious problem with corruption. Transparency.org gave Kenya a score of 2.1, where 0 is “highly corrupt” and 10, “very clean”. For perspective, Somalia was the most corrupt of the 178 countries with a score of 1.1. Saudi Arabia scored 4.7, the US scored 7.1, and Canada scored the sixth best with 8.9. The “cleanest” score was 9.3 (shared by Denmark, New Zealand, and Singapore).
There has been public outrage in Kenya of late as Members of Parliament try to escape paying taxes. Some MP’s have even threatened to block implementation of the new constitution if they are forced to pay taxes. Kenyan MP’s receive the equivalent of roughly $115,000 CAD per year in the form of salary (~$ 36,000 CAD) and allowances for entertainment and transportation etc (~ $79,000 CAD). This isn’t too far off the $158,000 paid to Canadian Members of Parliament; however, in the Kenyan economic context, MP’s are egregiously overpaid. Consider Kenya’s Gross National Income per Capita which is fifty-five times lower than that of Canada ($770 versus $42,170) ($US, 2009, UNICEF). Even comparing white-collar jobs yields large differences. PayScale.com reports the median salary for an administrative assistant in Kenya as equal to $4,881 (US) versus $35,787 (US) in Canada. Similarly, the median salary for an HR manager in Kenya is $13,678 (US) versus $65,069 (US) in Canada.
Apart from financial abuses, MP’s have been implicated in other horrendous events. The “Ocampo Six” comprised of the deputy Prime Minister, three other MP’s, a former police chief, and a radio host stand accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for allegedly inciting the riots that followed the 2007 election. Furthermore, some political leaders support criminal gangs who operate in the slums and, among other things, demand payment for security. There are eighteen gangs in Kibera alone and two in Mathare (the two slums where the SAI operates). The Daily Nation also notes that complicity by police exacerbates the situation. Amnesty International claims that the Kibera slum has a population of nearly a million but not a single police station. One has to wonder if that’s good news or bad given that the Kenyan police are considered to be the most corrupt institution in the country, according to the Daily Nation.
Poverty and corruption are like two halves of a vicious circle. Anup Shah states on globalissues.org that “corruption is both a major cause and a result of poverty” and that it “affects the poorest the most”. The International Monetary Fund’s Paulo Mauro indicates that there is “evidence of a negative and significant relationship between corruption and government expenditure on education”. Others have shown that there is also clear evidence that corruption has a significant negative impact on entrepreneurship. At the same time, Irene Ngunjiri states in The Journal of Language, Technology & Entrepreneurship in Africa that “entrepreneurship is paramount for economic growth”. Clearly then, supporting both education and entrepreneurship is an important means of combating poverty and corruption. One Kenyan blogger referred to entrepreneurship as “Kenya’s economic saviour” and suggested that it would be critical in achieving Kenya’s Vision 2030 goals. By educating, advising, and encouraging young entrepreneurs in slums for the past six years, the Sauder Africa Initiative has been attempting to disrupt this vicious cycle in its own small way.
If the Sauder Africa Initiative is a team effort, then we at UBC are managers and coaches, our partners at Strathmore University (Nairobi) are assistant coaches, and the students from the slums are the star players. You, dear readers, are the fans perhaps? How strange it must be to hear from the coaches and managers but not know any of the star players! Thus we invite you to find out more by coming to our fundraisers, following our blog, checking out our website, or emailing us your questions!
What Can I Do?
Helping with our project is not only about donating money (but every penny counts). You can help us in many other ways:
Helping with our project is not only about donating money (but every penny counts). You can help us in many other ways:
- promote our project among your personal and professional network
- follow us on Twitter
- join our Facebook page
- join our LinkedIn group
- volunteer to help with our fundraising events & attend them
- provide us with tips to read and people to connect with
- write a piece for our newsletter or blog
- provide us with in kind donations for our silent auctions
