At a time when the clamour for the utilisation of technology to revamp the Nigerian economy is increasingly popular, Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) is determined to empower young, tech savvy Nigerians.
With about $20 million already invested on youth empowerment since it was founded in 2008, the MEST is supporting aspiring African entrepreneurs through the Meltwater Foundation.
Over 400 individual entrepreneurs Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa) have graduated from the training programme, with about 25 tech companies launched with seed funding and mentorship from MEST.
MEST itself is regarded as “one of the largest private investments in Ghanaian economic development” by DFID and has received recognition from Forbes, AlJazeera, CNN, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, BBC and MarketWatch. MEST was also recently recognized as Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Africa.”
According to the organisation, its “influence and scope of operations expand, we are launching incubators across Africa, starting with Lagos in Nigeria. We are excited to host our first event in the city – an interactive session and fireside chat with experienced speakers where we talk about investing in tech startups.”
MEST entrepreneurs have developed solutions addressing local and global markets, received follow-on funding from global investors, and have gained admittance to top accelerator programs such as Y-Combinator, 500 Startups and TechStars. MEST entrepreneurs have also been selected by President Obama to represent at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C. and have been named Mandela Washington Fellows, a flagship program of Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).
MEST entrepreneurs have also been selected by President Obama to represent at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C. and have been named Mandela Washington Fellows, a flagship programme of Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).
Speakers at the launch of MEST 2016 in Nigeria will inlcude Alexandra Novitske, Dan Marom and Ngozi Dozie. Also expected to speak are Folabi Esan, Segun Adeyemi, Dotun Olowoporoku and Jason Njoku.
The evening talks will be moderated by MEST Lagos Incubator General Manager, Neku Atawodi–one of Forbes Africa’s 30 under 30 for 2016, and founder of Malaik – an impact-focused approach to equity crowdfunding in Africa.
