When I see or hear young girls
making global impact, I keep asking myself what I have been doing. I can’t
count how many times I have googled my name and only Facebook and Twitter has
something about me. And there are young ladies or let me call them girls (so that it will pain me well) that you
will search for their names on the web and a full list with so many pages about
them comes out. Many young ladies in their 20s are still trying to find their
path and some don’t still know what to do with themselves. The next thing you
will hear them talk about is that they want to get married. Our Pearldiva will
shock you out of your dormancy state. Like our bosses always tell us during our
performance review session, that there are nothing like dormant accounts but
dormant account officers. It means we are the reason the accounts go dormant.
As painful as it used to make us feel, it is the truth.
‘’Turn every moment into an opportunity and get out there and hustle.
No one will fight for your success if you don’t…’’ says Yasmin Belo Osagie.
Yasmin Belo Osagie, 26 year old, is
the co-founder of She Leads Africa (SLA). She Leads Africa is a Nigerian based
social enterprise that equips female entrepreneurs in Africa with the
knowledge, network and financing needed to build and scale strong businesses. Yasmin
saw a gap to create space for young women to make an impact in Africa. She
grabbed the opportunity to create her own start-up. Instead of gossiping and
idling away her time with friends, the graduate of Princeton University with
degree in history and Finance collaborated with her Ghanaian friend Afua Osei,
a 28 year old graduate of the University of Chicago with Masters in Business
Administration and Policy and both of them worked on the idea of She Leads
Africa… after realizing the need for leading women in Nigeria and the rest of
the continent. They saw She Leads Africa as a symbol of strength for women who
are not scared to break through social, cultural and financial constraints. No
wonder they say small minds discuss people while great minds discuss ideas.
‘’Investing
in women reaps significant dividends for families and societies. Women tend to
be investment multipliers; investing the majority of their income back into
their families and communities. These results in better educated, healthier
children who go onto be more productive, more prosperous citizens’’…Yasmin Belo
Osagie.
Founded in 2014, SLA is a platform
to gear up female entrepreneur from SMEs to Pan-Africa industry leaders, gives
support for their ideas and access to professionals who can assist with advice
and funding to turn start-ups into major business enterprises. SLA has signed
up thousands of women into their network. In One year, SLA has made remarkable
impact. First, they launched an All-Female Pan-African pitch contest that drew
500 applicants from almost 30 countries. The winner of the competition, Cherae
Robinson-creator of Rare Customs (the world’s only mobile app dedicated to
booking and buying experiences in Africa by tourists) , was awarded $10,000
while the second and third winners were awarded $5,000 and $1,000 respectively;
secondly, SLA sponsored entrepreneurs attending the Investors Demo Day in
Washington D.C.; it has established partnership with Intel to conduct workshops
for Tech-entrepreneurs; They have also negotiated with one of Nigerian largest
bank to create a low-interest lending program for female entrepreneurs; and lastly
an Online platform that features African case studies taught by business
experts.
Like the saying goes ‘’when God
gives a vision, He makes the provision’’. Aliko Dangote has set aside $1million
in low-cost for start-ups under the She Leads Africa umbrella. Yasmin and Afua
are named Forbes 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa.
I learnt two major lessons from
Yasmin-One, to make use of every opportunity and two, to carefully pick my
friend (a friend that will help make my ideas a reality).
Note: The essence of Pearldiva is
to stir up your potentials. You too can make global impacts if you looked
inward.
