Social entrepreneurs: Change agents making global impact

Social entrepreneurs can bring about the much needed change people are now clamouring for. Ashoka is one organisation that is identifying and empowering social entrepreneurs with new ideas for social change as well as providing them with access to a global network of social entrepreneurs, thereby creating an ever-increasing synergy for local action and global change.

The two-day Ashoka Changemakers’ Summit on education and employment, which held recently, was an event that ignited young people and school leaders to take action. According to the organisers, Ashoka is building a society where everyone is a change maker, urging all hands to be on deck to actualise this vision.

Young entrepreneurs, school leaders and partners who work with schools attended the event. The discussions were very participatory, with panels on creating an ecosystem for discussion on education and employment sectors in Africa.

After 30 years, Ashoka’s community of Fellows is now 3,000 in over 85 countries across five continents. Ashoka serves as a platform for collaboration and exchange, while also designing new ways for the citizens to become more productive, entrepreneurial, and globally integrated.

After identifying some of these leading social entrepreneurs, those who met the criteria were inducted into Ashoka’s community of fellows. Josephine Nzerem, Ashoka Anglophone West Africa regional director, gave some of the criteria for induction to include newness of the idea or newness of the approach, entrepreneurial quality of the entrepreneur, the ability of this entrepreneur to remain focused and the social impact of the business.

This November, two social entrepreneurs were inducted by Ashoka – Regina Agyare, a Ghanaian using technology to advance women in her country and a Nigerian farmer with an innovative product for his community.

Nzerem stated, “These criteria apply to you as a person. You need to remain focused. Looking at your environment, you must be a change-maker with a difference.”

A workshop on how to use storytelling techniques to tip partners towards change-making and building a participatory environment for students and young people was also done during the forum.

Mathias Yashim, project manager, HOPE Builders Foundation for Entrepreneurial Education, said Nigeria has to change its university education from current theoretical approach to practical approach so that graduate can have working skills and be productive on their own.

Ashoka Fellows in Africa are empowering people to create their own economic and civic opportunities, introducing more effective education systems, protecting the environment and natural resources, while resolving conflicts. The entity believes that building a critical mass of ground-breaking social entrepreneurs is an important step toward creating a vibrant and prosperous African continent.

Josephine Okojie and Nofiu Adebisi