Sierra Leone Events: Makeni Business Forum 2015 is on May 30 at UNIMAK

[highlight]PRESS RELEASE[/highlight]

On Saturday 30th May 2015 ALTIS, the Graduate School Business and Society of the Catholic University of Milan (Italy) and the University of Makeni will resume the first edition of the Global MBA in Impact Entrepreneurship at the University Hall, Fatima College Campus, Azzolini Highway, Makeni.

The event will take place at the UNIMAK Hall, 10:00am-1:30pm. It will be the occasion for:

• –  the business community and institutions to network and get first-hand knowledge about programs and

  resources available to entrepreneurs in Sierra Leone;

• –  local SMEs to showcase their products and services to customers and partners within the

  “Entrepreneurial Trade Fair”;

• –  Entrepreneurs to learn about the Global MBA in Impact Entrepreneurship at UNIMAK.

  The Makeni Business Forum 2015 is designed to:

• –  discuss the impact of the Ebola crisis in the Sierra Leonean business community;
• –  present the programs and resources available to local entrepreneurs to reignite our economic system;
• –  create ample opportunity for one-on-one meetings and business networking, also ;
• –  explore and nurture the new partnerships and opportunities arising between entrepreneurs, investors

  and other actors of the Sierra Leonean business ecosystem.

  The Forum will involve prominent stakeholders from the private and public sector and the multinational agencies to engage in dialog of implementation, advising on key strategic directives related to Sierra Leone’s economic outlook.

  

2. ABOUT THE GLOBAL MBA IN IMPACT ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT UNIMAK
One of Africa’s most pressing needs is to have a new kind of entrepreneurs, who desire to do more than just making profits. These Impact entrepreneurs want to identify and solve social problems on a large scale, to touch their communities and drive a positive and sustainable change. The biggest challenge facing them is how to upscale their impact. Too many Impact entrepreneurs have brilliant ideas but fail into executing them, or run inspiring ventures but without being able to reach adequate scale. Part of the reason is the lack of both access to capital and management skills to transform small start-ups in larger organizations.

To respond to these challenges, the Catholic University of Milan (Italy) – the largest private University in Europe – created the “Global MBA in Impact Entrepreneurship”. From this year on, the prestigious double- degree Master course (internationally recognized title) will be also offered at University of Makeni.

The MBA program aims to develop Impact entrepreneurship skills, linking up the students with an international network of facilitators, partners and investors and enabling them to start-up and grow their businesses during and beyond the course. The whole course is a 12-months “training camp” for active and inspiring leaders who want to move from a business concept to a complete business plan. The program is taught using a blended formula, a portion in the classroom (3 intensive weeks at the beginning, middle and final part of the year, plus 6 long weekends from Friday to Sunday), the rest on-line and with on-the-field Business Coaching. This formula allows the entrepreneur to pursue the MBA without having to leave his/her profession, job or business.