The Henley Business School online sessions attended by the top 14 contestants during MTN Y’ello Star incubation classes were the most rock-solid foundation built during the project. According to Jean-Pierre Choulet, Vice Dean Africa at Henley Business School, he said, “At Henley Africa, we are building the people developing the businesses in Africa. Precisely, this is what we believe in and what we think we have contributed to achieving with the Y’ello Star finalists.

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Also, with Dr. Adeyinka Adewale and Barry Van Zyl, we share the same passion for education. But you know, Y’ello Star allowed us to go beyond education. The time has come for the Creative Sector in Nigeria to be the most serious alternative to the Oil Economy. Y’ello star is the demonstration of this opportunity in which from the discovery stage, we were able to engage with over 9,000 artists from everywhere in Nigeria to the final point where we engaged with 40 fantastic performers. But talent is not enough. Beyond their craft, these artists need to understand the business of their profession. More importantly, they need to unlock their entrepreneurship mindset. Our only regret is to have limited our impact on the finalists. I am sure that peradventure we continue with the partnership, we will work hard to widen our impact”.

What are the plans for the African business community in the coming years?

As I have shared with you earlier, Henley Africa’s commitment is to build the people who develop the businesses that are building Africa. With the Covid, uncertainty is at its climax. However, we are sure that Henley Business School will continue its engagement in knowledge creation, education, coaching, and mentoring in Nigeria. This will help tackle youth unemployment. We will continue to accompany Organizations and firms to upskill their workforce, unlock innovation and be “recovery ready” in the Post-Covid Era.

Henley is renowned for its Centre of Excellence in Finance (ICMA Centre), Entrepreneurship (Henley Centre for Entrepreneurship), Coaching (Henley Centre for Coaching), and Real Estate (Amongst others). In the coming years, we will focus on widening our impact and strengthen our presence in Nigeria, and also building from our expertise, but more importantly, partnering with fantastic organization here in Nigeria, such as Afrinolly Creative Hub. Nothing is possible alone. We need to team up with great minds to make impossibilities possible.

Words by Sesan Adeniji culled from Afrinolly Magazine: Instagram & Twitter – @sesanadeniji