HR Pulse

Networking initiative yields results for entrepreneurs

At the Fourth Annual State of Entrepreneurship in SA Summit, held in Johannesburg as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, Desmond Nair, SAP’s director of ecosystems and channel in Africa, spoke about how innovation drives entrepreneurship and Africa’s importance within the global marketplace.

During his speech, Nair displayed a video clip about the Star Shea Network, a project that uses education and technology as a tool to improve the living conditions of women in northern Ghana. The initiative connects a Ghanaian village, where shea nuts are the main source of revenue, with nut sellers internationally. The initiative uses SAP technology to create a network which gives the Ghanaian entrepreneurs direct access to international buyers. This stops them having to communicate through intermediaries, effectively ‘cutting out the middle man’. The community members also gain the benefit of receiving real-time shea nut price updates on their cellphones. This enables them to adjust the prices of their products accordingly and gives them a competitive advantage.

According to a study conducted by Stanford University, incomes have increased by 82% since the initiative’s introduction.

“All we really did is made these entrepreneurs stronger sellers by connecting them with stronger buyers,” said Nair.

Source: ITWeb.