Gone till November?

Wycleff Jean, the talented Haitian pop star, has a soulful and melancholic song Gone till November. It is about a guy who wants to have a break in life and, in his word ‘can’t work from eight to five’. Basically he is giving his best shot into the unknown.As we celebrated the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), I could not help thinking (and singing a few lines that I could remember) of this song. This was for two reasons. First, this was for the obvious reason that we hold this every November. Second, and more importantly, it is because there is such good vibe and buzz during the global entrepreneurship week. Inspiration is all around! For example, Kigali Institute of Management, in partnership with GIZ (German Technical Cooperation) and RDB organised a unique symposium last week. It brought together members of farmers’ cooperatives and the students interested in entrepreneurship. This was good step in creating partnerships in many ways; between academia and the private sector, between would-be entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs on the ground, between two generations and definitely between theory and practice. This is as it should be. I was invited to talk about the link between entrepreneurship training (both in and out of university) and SME funding. I chose to make it as practical and participatory as possible. At some point I asked for a volunteer from the cooperative side to tell us what their most pressing problem was. A wheat farmer stood and said they have problems accessing markets. I then asked the students what solutions they would propose, based on their training in marketing, to that wheat farmers cooperative society. One student bravely attempted it and then we went into a mini-brainstorming session that involved practically identifying possible market for their wheat in the country and in the neighboring countries. Unfortunately there was not enough time but we learnt some vital lessons.We should ensure that the entrepreneurship development process is all inclusive. When we talk about development of entrepreneurship we need to have not only would-be and new entrepreneurs on board but also ‘established’ business people and cooperatives as KIM did. Thus way we get to better address the challenges better. Inviting Sina Gerard (of Sina Group) would give a better picture of the business environment in Rwanda. It would also ‘ground’ entrepreneurship development.We also need to expose our students more to the business environment as they learn. A lot of students seemed surprised to be asked to provide solutions to a real life problem represented by a farmer seated across the room. We have instilled in them the mentality that they should only face this after completion of their studies. But how can they really effectively study and research without confronting such real life issues as their case studies?Entrepreneurship, as it is now needs overhaul. Some institutions have begun it but most are still lagging behind. We need to appreciate that it is a usage of a combination skills as well as an attitude, a way of life. One unit in second or third year of University won’t just do. More preparatory work has to be done with an appreciation that entrepreneurship is both an action and a process. This calls for partnerships in an innovative manner. We need to make our students opportunity-obsessed (have them see problems as opportunities). All this cannot be done overnight. We have to keep it going with the same zeal we display during the November entrepreneurship week. We should not wait for next November.Beyond last week’s hype we have to keep up the hype. We need to properly focus on our issues, develop our own unique perspective, based on our scenario, and seek support all year round. Else we will be gone till November 2013.Over to you.