“I built a career helping others build their careers. My record label has shaped world renown stars like Lady Gaga, and that is what entrepreurship is all about. It’s about creating and growing,” he said.
Speaking at the pre-event session dubbed Youth and Women Forum at the United Nations Office (UNON) in Nairobi, Akon added that his story was not different from that of any other entrepreneur in the audience.
He called upon the various business people, especially Africans, to unite and help each other grow.
“If we unite we can grow a lot faster and stronger, because we are already in the race. We have to get to the finish line, because that’s the purpose. The purpose is not to win, if that was the case, then we already lost; Africa is far behind than the rest of the world in terms of business growth,” he noted.
The award-winning mogul urged entrepreneurs to mentor other budding ones to ensure Africa doesn’t sit on its immense potential saying that innovators who support the growth of the continent should focus on staying on track and pass the baton to see Africa rise and get to the finish line sooner than later.
Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Barack Obama officially opened the summit this morning July 25 at UNON Gigiri, before heading out to visit the US Embassy memorial park that was bombed by Al-Qaeda in 1997, and later for bilateral talks at State House Nairobi.
GES 2015 summit is still on going at UNON currently.