Kenya Airways Flight to Nairobi from Dakar via Bamako
How the 1 Billion dollar African Green Teams Business is Possible
I have just finished a mission in Saint Louis Senegal partnership between YES Kenya and UNHabitat's Cities in Climate Change Initiative of the Urban Planning Branch. The mission was to train the Youth Leaders from the city on Climate Mitigation strategies with an entrepreneurship approach. The vision is to create as many Green Teams in Africa that will have the capacity to reduce the effects the globe is facing that threaten the ecological survival of humanity such as climate change.
Ecological challenges that we face today have been approached with an aid based solution that does not work in resolving the problems that we face sustainably. The increasing youth populations in our communities now demand that we create enabling environment for them to to equitably co exist and contribute to the well being of our communities. We need to create massive jobs that will engage the youth.
Having done trainings in four cities of Africa, Mombasa, Kampala, Kigali and now Saint Louis, the enthusiasm that comes with the youth in the cities after having acquired the skills on echopreneurship is amazingly encouraging. It kind of reminds me that a different kind of Africa is possible if we channel our resources towards the right initiative. I believe a business model to resolving our problems is the best shot we got currently. Business is changing the way we do things. It is reinvigorating economies and it is one of the most approaches that every economy depends on for sustainability. So why not do it from bottom up? And that is what the Green Teams is up to in the next many years to come.
With four teams with skills set, partnerships and mentorship networks ready to help them grow, we will be set out to raise resources to make it happen. Four teams, comprising sixteen members each, I am looking for partners out of Africa to be the mentors of the teams. In the next three months we want to raise about US 50,000 to invest in creating sustainable business for the youth in the teams. With an investment of 150,000 in the next one year, by the end of 2012, the Green Teams Story will be at the top of the buzz for enterprise competing with global names. At the end of it, we shall have strong sustainable businesses that will require the right kind of investment and an assured return on investment. At the end of it, I see the teams contributing to the positive well being of their cities, revived green cities, ecological based solutions and employed youth creating jobs for their peers.
Keep watching this space as we get to that stage. But most importantly, we would like to hear and read from you on how best we will make this vision possible. Your help is our most valued resource. It is because of people like you, at we will realize that Green Africa that will contribute positively to reversing the effects of climate change.
The Green Teams is the Future for a developed Africa contributing to the sustainable development agenda of the rest of the world.
Emmanuel Dennis
Sent from my iPad
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