By Jacques Brent, President, Ford Middle East and Africa
MAKE profit and change the world. While that’s the tagline of many budding entrepreneurs, it’s something that those involved in the Henry Ford Entrepreneurship Academy (HFEA) espouse.
Students that have taken part in the Morocco-based Academy workshops have said they not only want to run their own business, but run businesses that will help alleviate social challenges, from health and housing to nutrition, education, the environment, women and youth empowerment.
This is social entrepreneurship, the kind that is, essentially, about creating businesses that are catalysts for social and economic change, and it’s a growing trend globally.
Entrepreneurship, and maybe youth entrepreneurship specifically, which represents a major engine of African growth, is a powerful mechanism that taps into the creativity and drive of people to bring about change. And that doesn’t just mean a change in their own circumstances, but in their communities as well. It’s outlooks like this that make the HFEA workshops so important, and its success far-reaching.
In Africa, home to one of the largest youth entrepreneur populations anywhere in the world, young people are striving to achieve economic independence and find their identity in the context of globalization, weakening community structures and an educational system that does not always equip them with skills needed in competitive environments.
Since its launch in December of 2015, the Henry Ford Entrepreneurship Academy has trained close to 100 entrepreneurs in Morocco with a range of vital new skills, tools and the entrepreneurial mind-set needed to nurture creative ideas, assessing the feasibility of their plans, and to help budding entrepreneurs launch and grow new ventures.
The Academy requires a great deal of hard work to be in a position to offer potentially life-altering workshops, and much of what Ford does in relation to the HFEA is a result of its partners like Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Business, where HFEA lead architect Jay Markiewicz plies his trade as executive director of Entrepreneurship Programs.
HFEA promotes a belief that entrepreneurship education is the most powerful economic force in the world. That belief sparks innovation, drives venture creation, and reveals how to navigate through the complexities that exist in business today. But this entrepreneurship education can also contribute to a country’s growth and development, and possibly lowering the unemployment rate.
It’s time to look further and expand the HFEA’s reach. Aspiring entrepreneurs in the Middle East and Africa could be considered to be some of the most connected thinkers in the world, but sometimes an initiative – such as hands-on classes that familiarize the next generation of CEOs with the business world and teach practical skills in entrepreneurship and financial literacy – is needed to encourage creativity and imagination.
Bringing HFEA workshops to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this March with plans to launch in other new locations later this year indicates Ford’s confidence in the region’s up and coming business people to harness the culture of early-stage entrepreneurship. In fact, it’s something that, at Ford, we’re very proud to be a part of. — SG
