Featured programs and activities
As the year winds down, we have selected a few upcoming interesting featured programs and activities at Inspire Africa for Global Impacts Initiative.
Cascador (1-5 November, 2021)
Lagos, Nigeria
Cascador is an entrepreneurial mentorship program that helps mid-stage entrepreneurs grow their businesses and interpersonal skills by working with successful American and Nigerian entrepreneurs.
The program will be in person at the Lagos Business School. Scaling fellow’s businesses will be the focus of the program this year. Each participant’s business plan will be reviewed and enhanced by veteran mentors and peers.
Among this year’s 11 fellows are Bisola Adeniyi, Founder and CEO of Lady Biba- a multi award winning women’s ready to wear clothing brand, and Tunde Salako, CEO of Hadiel- a digital health insurance and Software as a Service (SaaS) platform .
COP26 (31 October- 12 November, 2021)
Glasgow, Scotland
The UN Climate Change Conference, also known as the COP26 summit, will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This year, COP 26 is being hosted by the United Kingdom in partnership with Italy.
Earlier this year, Inspire Africa partnered with the British Council to deliver an online hackathon- the Ignite Innovation for Climate Change- which galvanized young people to learn and apply human-centered design-thinking as well as digital skills to create innovative solutions to climate change problems in Africa.
You can visit our Youtube channel for a recap of the online hackathon and playlists on selected segments of the two day challenge.
As part of the ICC, Inspire Africa will also be producing a short documentary on Adaptation and Resilience to climate change. You can be a part of this project and have your say in the climate conversation at COP 26 by submitting a short (30 seconds to 1 minute) video of your experience with climate change wherever you are. The deadline for submissions is 20 October 2021.
VET Toolbox (23-25 November, 2021)
Online, Hopin
With millions of young people entering the workforce every year, fast-changing economies are poised to benefit from a demographic dividend which could lead to great gains in poverty reduction, employment generation and economic growth.
One of the biggest challenges for such countries is finding a sustainable model of unlocking the latent potential of its young people. In this context, the importance of skills development as a driver of socio-economic development is paramount.
Inspire Africa CEO Cynthia Mene will be a guest speaker at this seminar which will provide a forum for policy-makers, experts practitioners and employers from the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector to explore and discuss their common challenges in developing the skills that will drive prosperity.
On day 2 of the seminar (themed "Going Digital"), Cynthia will lead the discussion in one of the breakout sessions: Engaging tomorrow's private sector- supporting the creation of new jobs and industries.