Stories
Stories
Small Club, Big Impact
Photo: Justin A. Knight
Africa Business Conference cochairs George Osawaye and Ngassam Ngnoumen (both MBA '02) and a team of student organizers began planning for the March event last August. They couldn't be more pleased with the results.
One thing we learned this year is that the conference has gained so much visibility that we no longer own the platform — we're the stewards for it, says Ngnoumen, a first-generation American who has lived in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Côte d'Ivoire. The expectations of participants have evolved, too. They see the conference as an opportunity to access ideas that can positively change their respective countries.
We're a small club, but we try to have a big impact on the HBS community, remarks Osawaye, a native of Benin City, Nigeria. The conference is a forum that brings together some of the key players in Africa so they can have a thought-provoking discussion and create and implement new strategies. Osawaye further notes that participants can continue their dialogue with one another via discussion forums on the conference Web site.
Both Ngnoumen and Osawaye plan to use their business skills to aid Africa's development. Osawaye, an entrepreneur who founded an IT solutions company before coming to HBS, will return to Nigeria after graduation and hopes to launch a business there. The decision of whether or not to return is complicated and deeply personal, Osawaye says. Security issues, for example, are a primary concern: His father, a retired businessman, is still recovering from complications resulting from an attack in Nigeria last year.
I think some people have to make the sacrifice and go back if things are going to change, he remarks. With that said, I have nothing against anyone who decides differently.
With each conference, the club tries to make its objectives as actionable as possible, says Ngnoumen, who expects to work in the United States for a few years before reassessing her options in Africa. It begins as a dialogue, then moves on to strategies and implementation; hopefully, in another ten or fifteen years, we can see the results of our actions and make a difference.