African Diaspora Investment Symposium in Silicon Valley, California: What is it about? I and Miklah Life’s Presence & Contribution!

African Diaspora Investment Symposium (ADIS) is one of the many programs facilitated by the African Diaspora Network. It is an annual event that brings together investors, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders from around the world to focus on the economic development of Africa.

As I already mentioned, it’s organized by the African Diaspora Network, a global organization connecting Africans and people with African roots.

This year (2024), the event (or ADIS24) is happening, from March 20-22 at the Hayes Mansion in San Jose, Silicon Valley, California. The theme is “Activate with Africa: Climate Change, Connections, and Action.” The focus is on finding solutions to climate change issues while fostering innovation, collaboration, and investment in Africa.

As already highlighted on #MiklahLife’s social media platforms, out of the thousands of applications from Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni, I and #MiklahLife were selected for support and attendance of ADIS24 on behalf of ourselves and, yeah, a little bit on behalf of the alumni network (not official representatives).

My long journey to San Jose, California, began on Monday 18th March 2024, and, after more than 20 hours of flight, I landed here in Silicon Valley, San Jose, California, on 19th March 2024 at around 4:30 pm, Silicon Valley Local Time.

Today (20th March 2024) was the first day of the symposium, which is happening at the historical Hayes Mansion Hotel. In this brief article, I will share what exactly it’s about, what transpired throughout the day, and Miklah Life’s presence and contributions. Let’s get to it!

What is ADIS24? What is it about?

According to the official African Diaspora Network website, ADIS24 is the 9th annual conference bringing various professionals, investors, and entrepreneurs together for Africa’s socioeconomic transformation. The major goal is to bring together the African Diaspora, Friends of Africa, and everyone interested in Africa’s growth to explore opportunities for partnerships, collaborations, and investment.

In other words, throughout the conference, African entrepreneurs can access and mingle with Black-American investors or any other American interested in entrepreneurship and socioeconomic work in Africa. As such, the conference is marked with pitching events, networking sessions, high-level speaking sessions, and a lot more. In this way, ADN is a gateway to Africa for entrepreneurs, investors, or philanthropists.

Described as ADN’s DNA, ADIS is like the network’s flagship program that brings together all the aspirations and dreams of ADN in fostering investment flow to Africa. ADN has other programs, including its latest, the YALI DIASPORA ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM. In brief, that is what ADN and its ADIS are about: ADN is the organization, and ADIS is just one of their programs.

African Diaspora Investment Symposium: First Day Briefings!

For most youth attendees from Africa, the first day started with a bang!

First, we had a private brief meeting with top officials from USAID, African Bureau. The discussions centered around USAID’s work towards African youth and investment. Dr. Monde Muyangwa, Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Africa, USAID, recognized that African Youth were already doing what was required and that all they needed was support to expand, polish, and create a bigger impact.

This woman is inspirational. Her speech was a little bit informal, making us feel at ease, at home, and understood. In her words, she said:

‘While in your small corners in your countries, you may feel small and get tempted to think your work is insignificant. However, when you meet and listen from each other’s work, you get to realize that, collectively, you are driving change. And that is what Africa deserves; You’!

I was seated closest to her, and these words penetrated my body, soul, and mind. And, in a moment, I realized, oh I and Miklah Life matters! Wait! Winnie too! Isn’t it? And of course, the many other African leaders doing amazing things in the region. See them:

She promised to work with us and all African youth to explore more innovative ways that USAID can be more resourceful. Importantly, she insisted that we need to tell Africa’s narrative the African way. In other words, what are you doing? Talk about it, and inspire others! Connect with her on LinkedIn here.

Concerning this, I reminded colleagues that writing about our work and intentionally mentoring other youth for programs like YALI, ADIS, and others is part of the solution. Time wasn’t friendly, but I wanted to add this: Ensure that whatever you do has a sound business model and is aligned with the 3Ps of sustainability.

At #MiklahLife, we write a lot, are pro-youth mentorship, and, yeah, we are a sustainability-focused company with clear business models.

Romi Bhatia, Senior Finance and Investment Advisor, USAID Africa, resounded the same inspiration. He insisted that African young entrepreneurs and leaders were already on the right track. We should just keep it up. He promised to have more of such talks with us in the following days.

The second bang involved the United Nations Migration’s (or IOM) department called the Diaspora Engagement Unit (DEU). This is like IOM’s strategy to connect migrants and their children with work back home in Africa or their countries of origin. The meeting’s focus was on DEU’s contributions to climate action in Africa. In other words, what can the diaspora do for climate action in Africa?

In this session, I was enlightened. I learned of the various ways IOM realizes the broader impacts of migrations to communities, including brain drain, and unfair policies surrounding labor migration. Importantly, I was amazed at how much Diaspora people wanna contribute to Africa’s climate action.

Wait! Did you know we are doing research on the nexus between the Triple Planetary Crisis and Human Health?

Climate-related migrations are some of the climate hazards directly impacting people’s mental and physical health. At Miklah Life, we dig deeper into these issues via a dedicated initiative called Research Ward and act on the findings through the innovation and entrepreneurship program, Sacred Entrepreneurship.

The official opening of the symposium: The True Space for Inspirations

From the ‘hide-out’ (or private) meetings, we entered the main hall for the main conference. It was beautiful and so inspiring. We heard from amazing and inspiring speakers like Susan Ellenberg, a woman that is both a mother and influential leader in education, policy, and social justice. I loved her energy, her vision, and passion for delivering services to underserved people and communities.

The next speaker was C.D. Glin, President PepsiCo Foundation, Global Health of Social Impact at PepsiCo Inc. This gentleman explored sustainability and its relevancency to corporate growth and development. According to Glin, PepsiCo relies on various nature and human-based activities to thrive. This includes water, various foods, and different professionals that work with the corporation.

As such, Glin stresses, doing anything good to people and the environment isn’t just charity, but a strategy for the company’s growth and sustainability. Glin went on and explored tens of programs they have across Africa, including feeding kids, funding and capacity building for enrepreneurs, and other food-innovations-related programs in South Africa and elsewhere.

He made it clear that Africa is the future of Pepsi’s growth innovation and expansion and thus investing in Africa’s young people and ecosystem is good for the company as well. I love capitalists; they are frank!

The third session was called ‘Exploring the impact: The President’s African Diaspora Engagement Council’. Apparently, US President Joe Biden put up a special council to give him insights about Africa’s landscape for better customized US interventions for socioeconomic development.

One more thing, on the list of these important persons, is Ham Serunjogi (the big guy in black, greating), a Ugandan entrepreneur, and founder of ChipperCash. Sadly, the guy didn’t show up for the panel discussion. However, it was inspiring to see the photo there.

As they dissected their duties to the President, Diaspora, and African people, an idea came to me and I wanted to suggest to them that, while Biden trusted them to have insights about Africa, they will still need local innovation and research hubs to bring them unbiased, reliable, and timely insights about deep local communities’ challenges and solutions.

Wait! Do you think I made this suggestion? No. Most people wanted to ask questions, and there was no time. They asked us to drop the idea! But I am here making the suggestion, isn’t it?

The next session involved a discussion of entrepreneurship hurdles. Relying on the experience and testimonies of about four entrepreneurs already under ADN support (Olufunto Boroffice of Ghanja Datti, Kristal Hansley of WeSolar, Josephine Nabulya of Sisters of the Immaculate Heart, and Shingai Samudzi of Asoba), we explored various entrepreneurship concepts in the context of Africa and amazing ways to get through them.

Young entrepreneurs discussed issues around funding, especially ways to differentiate good and bad money (or good and bad funders), ways the US Government can do better with funding African startups, inspiration or motivational sources for entrepreneurs during hard times (they why for your business), navigating issues of growth and market (successfully moving from different stages of business funding and support), and a lot more. The amazing part about this was that Sr. Josephine, a Ugandan nun and entrepreneur was among the panelists.

I enjoyed her. I like her, for she is friendly and resourceful. We are now great friends and I will tell you more about her:

According to Josephine, in their convent, all they knew or were supposed to know was praying and being nice. However, one day, she was introduced to social entrepreneurship, to the idea that they (nuns) could be more to their communities than just praying and wishing for nice things. So, she and her colleagues got started with coffee growing on the vast land they already owned. As of today, they have coffee on acres of land.

She won an award of about 25k USD with ADN (I think the program is called Builders of Africa’s Future; you can try it too). Should I say more? No, go here and read more about her. Get connected with her on LinkedIn here. Or just handle me nicely; she is my friend, lol.

African Diaspora Investment Symposium: Pitch competition

As a sustainability entrepreneur with a research and innovation hub, my most moving moment was the pitching time! Three entrepreneurs were allowed to pitch their business ideas. Applications had happened earlier, and a few members had been selected to showcase their pitches. So, at around 5:15 PM Local Time in Silicon Valley, it was pitching time.

In the pitches, Amanda Etuk pitched MESSENGER, a Nigerian-based startup focusing on last-mile deliveries or logistical work. This lady was amazingly awesome and she used Zoom to pitch her product. She described how logistics work has been a disappointment in Nigeria and the high costs it involves. She and the team’s product, Messenger, is on a mission to change that. Read about Messenger here.

A Burundian guy, Jolis Nduwimana, introduced us to a waste recycling company called WEGE. They turn waste into eco-friendly shopping or packaging bags, and directly dismantle the idea of ‘plastics for packaging’. They are saving the planet while making money and empowering individuals and communities. Read more about this business and its products here. Jolis presented the pitch physically, for he was present.

I read about this guy’s biography and the awards they have grasped on the event’s app, and I was like, what!

Well, the next in line was Rukayat Kolawole Bello, the CEO and founder of REGXTA, a Nigerian startup focusing on financial services (also called fintech). According to Rukayat, informal people and businesses don’t have bank accounts. Regxta is their bank now!

Do I need to talk more about this? Yes, the way she presented! Rukayat did it on Zoom as well. She ‘killed’ us with her description of the problem that small-scale farmers and SMEs find when it comes to corporate banking. Her ending revealed deliverables. I explored her LinkedIn profile and her name reminded me of the ‘nicknaming’ habit of Ugandans.

Who nicknamed her ‘Madam Grassroot’? In my view, she is a queen of ‘financial inclusion’, of course, while making money!

I loved how simple, incremental, and charming she was. Did you know their app has already enabled 1.5 million USD transactions? That is cool! I truly loved her. Wait! What did I just say? Okay, I mean I liked her presentation. Read more about Regxta here.

So who will win the award of 10K USD? In my view, they all deserve it! However, you already know the goals of capitalism, right? Competition! For one to win, there must be losers, even when they shouldn’t be there, lol. So we voted! The winner will be announced at the end of the event. The good thing is they shall all be enrolled for mental support, networking events, and other opportunities. Taken together, they are all winners, just not the same way!

NB: Miklah Life wasn’t on the list for pitching! If we were, of course, we would kill it! I mean, we are a research and innovation hub for sustainability entrepreneurs, implying that we are a house or a network of more than 412 young entrepreneurs, each one of them doing amazing stuff like the entrepreneurs I have described above.

Who wouldn’t want to invest in a company that directly impacts other hundreds of startups in one GO? So, yeah, Miklah Life, forever!

African Diaspora Investment Symposium: The last two, I mean three sessions!

The second last keynote speech was from THELMA EKIYOR. Nigerians! Very exciting, vibrant, and energetic! This woman took up the stage in calmness, but the calmness didn’t last! She quickly put us ‘on our toes’ when she started with a story.

She said:

‘During the flight, I sat near a man. Instead of being sweet about myself and not talking to anybody, just like I usually do, this time I opened up and chatted. I asked the man about where he was going and what he was doing. We discussed everything. The man is successful. However, one question completely changed my life. I asked the man, tell me, what do you tell people (mostly investors or Americans, Asians, Europeans) when they ask about Nigeria? He said, “I tell them, Nigeria is full of corruption”. She then asked the man, why do you do that? The man replied, “Because I do not want them to invest and outcompete me and my businesses”‘

Eeeeeeeh! Ekiyor had us there!

Then she slowly brought it down, and asked, ‘about Africa or your country, which narrative are you listening to, from who? Which narrative do you tell about Africa, your country?’.

Can you see where she was going with this? Yes, acknowledge, recognize, and accept the shortcomings of our countries, but speak of hope, opportunities, and areas of progress within that huge story of Africa. Preach light and hope to the world, about yourself and the countries you belong to.

Wait! Isn’t this the same message we started with? Connect with this lady here.

In the end, she ‘bragged’ about her ongoing Ph.D. program and why she took the classes; So she could write her own story, her version of Africa’s entrepreneurship struggles and successes. Hallelujah. I liked her, wholesomely!

Wait! Just like her, did you know I am looking for a Ph.D. program opportunity in Health Sciences? Importantly, I am already an author even before the program, lol. I should talk to her about my aspirations too. Shouldn’t I?

The last speech came from David Rice who simply said, ‘INVEST IN BARBADOS’. I took him seriously because he said he was going to work on OUR flight bookings to Barbados. So, I am positive, my next stop is likely BARBADOS! I loved his experience and passion for investment. I could charm him into ‘INVEST IN MIKLAH LIFE‘

Lastly, there were not two last sessions, but three! The third one was called ‘Evening Welcome Reception’. This was a time for drinks, networking, and music! Should I tell you about this? Not necessary!

But, yeah, I loved the music, and the woman playing the Guitar! Wait! Where is her photo? How could I not take that? Oh, Jesus! Could someone share the photo of the lady who played the guitar during the networking session, please? Thank you.