By Samson Echenim
Four Nigerian businessmen have joined business leaders from the UAE and Africa to mentor high-potential startups as they build their businesses and target new market opportunities.
The Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry announced on Wednesday ahead of the 5th Global Business Forum on Africa, taking place on November 18th-19th, 2019 in Dubai. The first-of-its-kind mentorship programme aims to foster cross-border cooperation between UAE and African startup communities
Aboyeji Iyinoluwa, managing partner at Street Capital; Chris Folayan, founder and CEO of Mall for Africa; Eghosa Omoigui, founder and managing partner of EchoVC; and Jonathan Berman, CEO of J.E. Berman Associates will join four prominent business leaders from the UAE who were selected to mentor high-potential startups from the UAE and Africa participating in Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Global Business Forum (GBF) Mentorship Programme.
The four UAE-based mentors and four Africa-based mentors have joined the first-of-its-kind programme which aims to foster cross-border cooperation between the two startup communities and help participants expand their global presence. The selected mentors offer a wealth of expertise in a wide range of fields, including, technology, education, retail, construction and finance.
All of the mentors have a proven track record in building business and driving the growth of startups companies. As part of the programme, the UAE-based mentors will team up with the selected African startups and guide them over a three-month period, while the Africa-based mentors will do the same for the UAE startups.
Following the mentorship phase of the programme, the participating startups will have an opportunity to exhibit at the 5th Global Business Forum on Africa in Dubai
on November 18th-19th 2019 and boost their exposure within UAE and African markets and business communities.
The other four mentors joining the programme are: Nassib Boueri, CEO of Wunderman MENA; Chris Thomas, CO-CEO and Co-founder of Eureeca; Cynthia Corby, the Middle East Construction Industry Leader for Deloitte and Nader Amiri, Founder and CEO of el Grocer;
The GBF Mentorship Programme is an extension of Dubai Chamber’s Global Business Forum on Africa platform and event series. Prior to the selection of the participating mentors and startups, the first-ever Chamberthon event was held in Kigali, Rwanda, earlier this year which was joined by 20 UAE and African startups that collaborated to develop the foundation and structure of the mentorship programme.
