Globally, the phenomena and emphasis on mentoring and coaching for small businesses is receiving unprecedented attention from governments and corporate social investment programs.
Always, as a fascination has been my intrigue in the German approach to innovation. The US has been great at developing the most sophisticated financial systems to financing radical ideas resulting in what we know today as
Google, Facebook, Twitter and SnapChat.
Germany is better though at adapting inventions to industry, infusing them into the various business sectors. So Germany improves current technology – ensuring the old elements accentuate into new pulsating ones. Germany’s manufacturing prowess is typically seen in most of the Chinese products we buy – mostly produced by German-made machinery.
Changing the image and mechanism for mentoring and coaching of start-up tech companies across Africa is exactly what AMPION is doing. They have radically ‘innovated’ the means of reaching, tech entrepreneurs, linking them with a relevant mentor and industry experts that ultimately – and this is CRITICAL – realise the revolutionary nature of their technologies.
What is AMPION and what do they do? Aptly explained, Fabian-Carlos Guhl the co-founder and managing director of AMPION says that the organisation is a lean machine in all aspects of operation. AMPION exists, dedicated to creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and change-makers in Africa and emerging markets. Guhl is also an online media expert and former consultant to the African Development Bank.
AMPION is a non-profit, impact-driven NGO with offices in Germany (Berlin) and Harare, Zimbabwe. Simply, AMPION’s vision is to become a globally recognized catalyst for private sector-driven economic growth and equitable and sustainable development in emerging markets around the world.
In this process of developing fledgling entrepreneurs, AMPION assembles highly experienced professionals and entrepreneurs and sometimes enthusiastic volunteers all linked up with strategic partners in various fields. Unique to this process is the AMPION Venture Bus, an intense 5-day business launch and training exercise. This is normally between cities or countries across Africa.
Diversity, Guhl explains is another key to the success of this innovative venture. Considering the combination of skills across borders and professions, significant and unique capacity is built and becomes an inherent part of the entrepreneur’s development experience.
AMPION understands that innovation must result in widespread productivity – thus using widespread expertise centred in niche sectors that need to be developed in emerging markets.
In doing so its efforts does not necessarily seek to form new industries, but also infuse existing industries with new ideas and technological solutions.
The organisation has a network of public institutions and private partners that help companies recombine and improve ideas – innovation does not end with invention. The process and time on the Venture Bus is to move radical ideas into the marketplace in novel ways, closing the gap between research and the evolving processes required of small and medium-size enterprises to succeed in the market.
The AMPION growth trajectory for entrepreneurs ensures constant training, enabling inventors to use their innovations in diverse and creative ways. The process goes way beyond the time Venture Bus, but ensures development trajectories beyond what is in the market in Africa today. This is enabled through the diverse set of people of all ages with talents, complementing each piece of the puzzle that needs to be completed. Their strengths are typically emphasised in either IT (software & hardware), design (graphical, web, industrial), or business (strategy, marketing, finance, etc.).
In 2014 the focus will be on healthcare, energy and education – German processes for African innovation!
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