UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM: BEYOND SILICON VALLEY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN TRANSITIONING ECONOMIES.2/19/2018 Students and professors took to a packed, and humid, auditorium at Dar Es Salaam University, where they listened to Professor Michael Goldberg’s iconic Beyond Silicon Valley speech. Goldberg opened with an introduction of how his speech, and views of entrepreneurship, came to fruition. The bottom line: Silicon Valley is just one Centre of business operations, but startups and entrepreneurs, are breathing organisms that can thrive beyond Silicon Valley, in any stable local economy. The undergraduate student body seemed to come alive after they were willingly (or unwillingly) pulled into to a barrage of entrepreneurial questions and transitions throughout the discussion. Leading into the panel discussion, the students brought forth factors they believed contributed most to a successful, but still developing, organization: drive, passion, capital, and leadership. Perhaps most exciting, for the undergraduate student body, was the opportunity to participate and listen to a panel discussion consisting of successful Tanzanian entrepreneurs. Everyone on the panel was unique in his or her own right. However, they all had one thing in common: an appreciation for education and the understanding of the challenges an early stage business is faced. Benjamin aka Benji Fernandes (also a host of our trip), appeared to be a crowd favorite, not just at the University, but seemingly, a local celebrity all over Tanzania. Benji graduated from Stanford University, and with over 145K Instagram followers, possesses unrivaled knowledge in the realm of social media “content” delivery. He is also in the mist of getting his venture-backed startup, an African electronic payments platform technologies firm, off the ground. Like Benjamin, Hyasintha Ntuyeko is an entrepreneur. Hyasintha founded Kasole Secretes, which developed organic sanitary products for women. She is a 2015 Young African Leader Initiative (“YALI”, Mandela Washington Fellowship) Awardee who also runs Hedhi Salama, or “Safe Menstruation”, a campaign which aims to educate African women on the importance of female health and sanitation. In accordance with Goldberg’s tone, set at the onset of the event, these leaders discussed the importance of locally grown business and how current (and future) East-African legislation will impact the early stages of founding an organization. Through these discussions, the Case Western University guests were in a unique position to engage further with those University of Dar Es Salaam in attendance, which was a learning experience for both parties. The local student body was amped for the engagement. As guests, we answered questions of business culture in the United States, our perception(s) of Tanzania, and recommendations for U.S. tourist destination. For those questions that needed further guidance- those surrounding what programs are offered to students, outside the United States, who wish to study abroad- were directed to the appropriate source of desired information. The experience was invaluable, in that, it exemplified the student’s individual desire and passion to grow and acquire knowledge- a desire that parallels even the most ambitious U.S. based-student. Moreover, the experience enabled students of different culture, backgrounds, and beliefs to connect at a higher level- free of prejudice or other political factors that inhibit the latter. Authors: Justin Glogore & Emily Mills
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