Young entrepreneurs receive success tips from seasoned business leader

Over 100 young entrepreneurs across Africa under the aegis of Global Shapers Community participated at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Abuja with Adeola Adetunji, CEO of Coca Cola Nigeria, empowering them with factors of business success.

Speaking at a special panel of discussion of ‘Meet Coca Cola leadership in Africa’ where participants from over 30 African countries attended, Adetunji, who is overseeing the 128 years old global company that entered Nigeria about 64 years ago, advised the entrepreneurs to follow and maintain their goal in business, which he said must have solution for the society.

Other listed factors of success in business are commitment, perseverance, discipline and courage to make decisions and work the talk. Adetunji, who said any firm must operate at international standard even if it is operating locally, told the young entrepreneurs that they should allow everybody in the organisation know the focus and destination of the company.

He also cited personal experiences and his continuous seek for knowledge and experience as a motivating factor for the young business executives, who are dreaming big and who are presently networking in seeking for knowledge and practical experience for business growth.

The session primarily featured discussion on ‘Forming Partnerships for the Future,’ focusing on golden triangle partnerships as a framework to bring together business, government and civil society to create shared value.

Explaining why Coca Cola is involved in the Global Shapers Community, a brain child of WEF, Adetunji said: “Coke believes in the communities in which it operates, and since Coca Cola is literally all over the world we believe in the world and if our business gets to thrive, the communities and the world will get to thrive as well

“We touch almost all forms of life, we have employees, stakes for the government, bottling partners, consumers, and the only reason we can feed good ideas into the future to ensure the world thrives is by being engaged in such programmes.”

On the nature of Coca Cola engagement, the company provides coaching and mentorship to the young entrepreneurs and sponsors best ideas among the Shapers Community across Africa, who get part sponsorship for their ideas, he said.

Among the shapers community there are graduates who have started their businesses and some are employed by organisations and they are helping to shape the future of those organisations and helping to drive their success.

Sharing how Coca-Cola Nigeria is working together with business, government and civil society to build sustainable, effective community projects, Dorcas Onyango, marketing and communications lead, Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, who said government cannot do it alone, said Coca Cola Foundation concentrated on issues that bother on community and the major issue was water. She said issue for the community was an issue for the company.

In his perspective on innovative approaches, Nigerian Bottling Company Ltd is taking to help small and medium size businesses thrive, Matthieu Seguin, country commercial director, Nigerian Bottling Company Limited, said, saying small and medium enterprises are the businesses that will create future jobs for youth and in this regard NBC creates stores.

According to him, youth also participates in the value chain to eke a living for themselves.

Shape Africa is an annual regional meeting of Global Shapers from the continent of Africa where young entrepreneurs mostly below 30 year, meet to share ideas and network for business success. They also engage in community development to help shape the world.

Daniel Obi