EbonyLife TV, Africa’s first Global Black Entertainment Network, last Saturday hosted a “Meet & Greet” event involving many high flying and successful women in the society and representatives of Invest Africa, a UK based group and platform for business leaders, private investors and entrepreneurs.
The event, which held at Wheat Baker Hotel in Ikoyi at the behest of the CEO and Executive Chairman of EbonyLife TV, Mo Abudu, was an opportunity for women entrepreneurs in businesses from different sectors in the Nigerian economy to network with each other and the Invest Africa team in order to learn how they can access foreign funds to start or expand their businesses.
The Invest Africa group is founded by Robert Hersov, a managing partner for Sapinda UK, with a focus on Africa and funding deal size ranging from $5m to $5bn. Members of the visiting delegation included Preston Haskell, a businessman from St Kitts whose area of interests covers natural resources, real estate and finance, with deal size up to $100m in mining and property.
Also present were Bence Katai, with a PE company deal size between $10m – $50m; Erik Wigertz with interest in Oil & Gas, with deal size exceeding $100m; Nouriel Roubini, an American businessman considered one of the best and most prolific macro-economists in the world and Tim Whyte whose area of focus is agriculture and coal mining, with deal size exceeding $100m, amongst other distinguished investors and entrepreneurs.
In attendance at the event included the Honourable Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson; CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Mrs. Bola Adeola; CEO of Stanbic Bank, Mrs. Sola David-Borha; Her Excellency, the First lady of Cross River State, Mrs. Obioma Imoke; Her Excellency, immediate past first lady of Cross River State, Mrs. Onari Duke, among myriads of successful and sterling celebrities, professionals, among others.
Rob Hershov, founder of Invest Africa, while introducing his team members emphasized the need to empower women and give them access to funding as women have increasingly larger roles to play in the economic decisions in African homes. He pointed out that on the average, women were more likely to pay back their debts than men, and hence were more credit worthy. On the development of business, economies and nation building, Mr. Hershov noted that “governments cannot build economies; entrepreneurs will”.
In her speech at the event, the Honourable Minster for Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson encouraged women to play more prominent roles in the ICT sector of the economy as she believes that there are many more women Steve Jobs and Bill Gates waiting to be discovered in the Nigeria ICT Sector.
Initiator of the Meet & Greet, Mo Abudu has this to say about the event, “As funding becomes increasingly critical to business growth and sustainability in Africa, it becomes highly imperative for women to begin to move from social networking to business networking. So during my last trip to the UK, I had meetings with the Invest Africa team and managed to encourage them to come and meet with Nigerian business women for the purpose of networking towards empowering them with knowledge about how to access funding for their business. I’m happy to see this happen and hopefully this blossoms into great results and even greater opportunities for us women.”
About EbonyLife TV:
EbonyLife TV is Africa’s first Global Black Entertainment Network showcasing the best of Africa for a ‘Global Black’ audience. The channel commenced broadcast on July 1, 2013 on DStv, producing and broadcasting to 44 African Countries, over 1000 hours of non-stop, original and premium programming with world-class production values.
Positioned to be the home of the best of African content available, EbonyLife TV brings together disparate African cultures via a shared class identity – a Global Black uniqueness that extends beyond geographical borders and links Africa with a Diaspora of international Global Black role models.
With the tagline “Live the EbonyLife”, the channel is proud to be broadcasting exclusively African original programming which is both inspirational and aspirational, celebrating style and success while motivating its audiences to dream and dream big. The EbonyLife TV channel is one in which every programme, from Reality to Talk, Drama to Entertainment and Comedy, leaves viewers with that cool, glossy, polished and sophisticated experience.