British entrepreneur, Alexander Amosu, who made his fortune selling mobile ring tones is to dedicate his time mentoring young entrepreneurs in Nigeria in a bid to help the continent fight poverty. This London based entrepreneur is fully equipped to take on this challenge as at the age of just 25 he was already a millionaire. Amosu got his big break when his ringtone company, RnB Ringtones which went on to become a runaway success with 2 million customers across Europe.
Now in his thirties and presiding over a growing business empire, Alexander Amosu is what many would regard as an overnight success but he had shown an eye for business from the age of 15 when he started a company organizing sport events.
Amosu acknowledges the support he received when starting off as an entrepreneur and has been keen to give back. In 2006, he started the AA Trust which is dedicated to creating entrepreneurs by investing in people in the UK between the ages of 16-27 with a business idea or plan.
“It’s all about giving back,” explains Amosu, “and that’s why I set up the Trust. Young people tend to be inspired by footballers and celebrities, but there’s a ratio of 1,000,000-1 in terms of them actually making it down that path. I try to show them that becoming an entrepreneur is not only easier but sometimes more rewarding.”
He has now set his eyes on a bigger challenge, fighting poverty in Africa. Through his trust, Amosu aims to tackle the poverty that has blighted the continent by promoting and supporting entrepreneurism in Sub-Saharan Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria.
The effort, called the Nigerian Entrepreneurship Initiative, aims to encourage and support the start-up and growth of enough micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) to eradicate poverty in the country over the next 30 years.
MSMEs have long been accepted as the engine of economic growth and for promoting equitable development. They constitute over 90% of total enterprises in most economies and are credited with generating the highest rates of employment growth.
In India for instance, MSMEs play a pivotal role in the overall industrial economy of the country. It is estimated that in terms of value, the sector accounts for about 39% of the manufacturing output and around 33% of the total export of the country. In recent years the MSME sector consistently registered higher growth rate compared to the overall industrial sector.
The major advantage of the sector is its employment potential at low capital cost. Within the European Union (EU), 25 million MSMEs employ 75 million people, accounting for two thirds of its workforce in the private sector. In some sectors, such as textiles, furniture and construction, MSMEs employ more than 80% of the workforce.
Amosu believes that MSMEs are key to tackling poverty in Nigeria, which is ranked 80th in the Human Poverty Index amongst 108 developing countries, making it one of the poorest countries in the world. “If we can replicate half of the success in Nigeria of both China and India in terms of encouraging and supporting entrepreneurs, we will make a lot of progress in eradicating poverty in the country.”
One of the many projects that Amosu has lined up as part of the push to promote entrepreneurism is the Mind of an Entrepreneur event which is a mentoring event for entrepreneurs. The event has already had successful stints in the UK, bringing together some of the Britain’s richest people and budding entrepreneurs in the same room to exchange ideas and in some cases some much needed investments. He hopes to replicate the success by taking the event across cities in Nigeria.