We believe that great leaders need great mentors, and the Centurion Africa Business Mentorship Program gives us the chance to support African start-ups and SMEs through pro-bono legal services. Centurion Law Group launched the program in February 2016, first in Cameroon and then expanding to South Africa, and the response has been overwhelming.
Today we announce the first five successful candidates for the program. As a law group with a pan-African vision, we are proud to be able to support dynamic African businesses, each making a difference in such vital sectors as agriculture, healthcare, education and leadership training. Congratulations to the winning five! We’re looking forward to working with you.
Save Our Agriculture
The founder of Save Our Agriculture has identified the uncertain nature of doing business in the agricultural sector of Cameroon – workforce and logistics issues, in particular, are a challenge to growth. Part of the solution, this organization believes, is aquaponics. This is an above-ground technique that can produce four times more food than traditional methods, without chemical fertilizers. Save Our Agriculture has developed two prototypes to grow food in 45 day cycles in containerized units that can be placed anywhere. Affordable and accessible food production that empowers people is the goal, and Centurion is proud to support this vision.
Aconnect
An lean e-commerce start-up based in Cameroon, Aconnect prioritizes effective business planning, creative sales techniques, innovative products and intelligent marketing. The company is building an online shopping platform that can retail goods produced by individuals and SMEs from the region. They aim to be Africa’s top tech company by 2030 and to help people participate and gain access to the rapidly growing internet economy in Africa. Empowering local merchants and entrepreneurs and introducing Africans to the e-commerce market has massive potential, and Centurion shares Aconnect’s ambitious goals.
Gifted Mom
Gifted Mom is developing innovative and low-cost mobile based health technologies for health NGOs and hospitals. Their primary aim is to bring down the mortality rate of pregnant women by using SMS and voice messaging to provide essential information, reminders and advice. The solution directly connects the mother to the relevant doctor for consultation. Gifted Mom is a big cause that matters to all of us, and it has the potential to save lives in Cameroon and all over Africa. The work of this organization is an inspiration to us at Centurion and we are glad to assist in its growth.
SmartFundi
SmartFundi is on a mission to raise the number of university graduates and increase the quality of graduates using the cloud. Student support and development services will be delivered via an online cognitive computing system, with the aim of helping South African students achieve their full potential. Education at all levels is particularly relevant in South Africa today, partly due to socio-economic problems rooted in the country’s past. But SmartFundi’s impact could be felt all over the continent. Education, we believe, is the foundation of a bright future for Africa.
Mi-Ashanti International
Mi-Ashanti (also in South Africa) has identified training methods and leadership styles for entrepreneurs to bring down new businesses’ failure rates. The founder of the business is developing her MBA thesis on the scalability of a business model and solutions that will meet the needs of governments, venture capitalists and funders to address start-up entrepreneurs’ challenges in a sustainable way. This dedication to helping African entrepreneurs and SMEs succeed, partly through technology solutions, matches perfectly with Centurion’s perspective on the growth of African economies and businesses. We look forward to helping Mi-Ashanti as it helps others to achieve their professional goals.
