Bishop TD Jakes Addressing Entrepreneurs
“I hear people from outside talk about opportunities in Africa more than I hear Africans talk about opportunities in Africa…the globe today is ready for your Idea,”
NunuNtshingila, the Regional Director Facebook Africa pointed out this truth during SOAR
AFRICA 2019 as she stood up to address enthusiastic entrepreneurs.
SOAR AFRICA is a platform
for African Leaders to get peer mentorship, knowledge sharing and executive
engagement that embraces servant leadership. 5th-6th September
2019 mark the inaugural dates for the event that has been the talk of the day
at least by many in the country for the past one month. The event brought
together admirable leaders not only in the business world but also from the
Public as well as the Spiritual aspects of life.
The main speaker being Bishop
TD Jakes from the US, the audience were surely blessed by his colleagues of the
day including Strive Masiyiwa, Joshua Oigara (KCB), Sylvia Mulinge(Safaricom PLC),
CS Fred Matiang’I to mention but a few.
There had been a fuss all
over the media about the charges to the event but some of us just chose to
focus on the main thing, which was, “SOAR AFRICA.” I was not going to afford
this summit but was positive that at least I could get some nuggets of wisdom
even if it meant through leaked videos or the social media titbits.
You can
imagine the joy when I got a message to express interest in attending the
summit through the YALI alumni email. KCB had decided to sponsor a few of us. That
is one of the mails I normally respond to first, doing the necessary before
asking questions. Doesn’t Steve Covey advocate for pro-activeness in his 7Habits of Highly Effective People?
Let’s just say I had to
attend this no matter the circumstances. I had been down with a fever and I
once thought about cancelling my travel plan but… Years ago I read a book with
a title “THE PRINCESS WITHIN” by Sarah Jakes which made me admire the man, her
husband. I looked forward to becoming a resilient husband, open and honest as
well as God-fearing.
So, when an opportunity comes to hear and see the man you
read on paper and/or watched on electrons, what more can one ask? The fact that
he is a man of God showing the world that business can be clean and money after
all was meant to serve man and not the other way is inspirational and maybe for
once…I had to pause because I think the statement needs its own sentence break.
For once, young
Christians (and even believers of other religions) have evidence that being
religious is not a license to foolishness and poverty as it is always shoved down
our throats right from primary school by some who believe in nothing.
According
to TDJ, the success of a nation is like a table. The four legs are
Entrepreneurship, Religion, Political Leadership and Technology. Knock any of
them off and there you have a crisis. He advocates for an inclusive society
where children, the youths and the elderly are part of the cake baking process.
I could see the passion
he has for Kenya and the longings for the rising of the black continent. We
danced to the beat led by the stamping of his foot encouraging Kenyans to start
marketing their products.
“Success is no longer a local Idea…business is a brand. A brand is a promise…a promise is built on trust. Make it easier for people to trade with you…It is not about who’s next…find people who do what you can’t…collaborate…”
A few months ago, during
the National Youths and Devolution Summit, the speakers emphasized on the need for
young people to advance from noise to voice. TDJ called on Kenyans to channel their
energy into marketing their products because,
“We (outside Kenya) need your products, we need your music, your normal to us is amazing…the wind is right for your dream…wake up! Wake up Kenya, it’s morning!”
To sum up this write-up,
my salutation goes to Joy Wachira, the founder of SOAR AFRICA for dreaming big
and helping us get the motivation we needed to forge ahead. To KCB and the Yali
Fraternity, one day books will be read as people overseas will be looking for
the formula that made Africa arise, these titles shall be remembered. Meanwhile, let me finish reading my copy of SOAR
authored by Bishop TD Jakes. You can order it online at Amazon
A section of young Entrepreneurs after the summit
Dear reader, thank you
choosing to read this post under Art4Leadership with sponsorship of Dowe Music
&Arts. We endeavor to highlight the positive change taking place in Africa
as we rebuke the stench of evils that thwart her progress. Please stay tuned.
The writer has sole responsibility
for the post.
Douglas Ogutu is a gifted
musician and writer
at Dowe Music & Arts
