Entrepreneurs' Organisation extends reach into Africa

The local South African chapter, established in 2005, has 111 members in Johannesburg and 70 in the Cape, all with the aim of enabling small and large business owners to learn from peers and business experts.

EO Nairobi and EO Cape Town has joined forces put together the Africa 750 Task Force which will be led by two business owners, Sriram Bharatam in Kenya and Lesley Waterkeyn in Cape Town.

EO which currently has 75 members across East and West Africa has identified Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia in East Africa and Nigeria & Ghana in West Africa as target markets - with the aim of reaching 750 entrepreneurial owners by July 2018 across the African continent.

The establishment of these new chapters in Africa will benefit not only the entrepreneurial communities of the new chapters, but the current members of existing chapters, many of whom already have significant business interests in many of these fast growing economies. Chapters in these countries will offer members unique opportunities of expanding their business network, an exciting possibility for both established and new members globally.

Influential community of entrepreneurs

Driving the expansion from South Africa, Waterkeyn says, "The global network enables small and large business owners to learn from each other leading to greater business success. This continental expansion is a step toward fulfilling the organisation's vision of being the world's most influential community of entrepreneurs. This aligns with our mission of supporting entrepreneurial education, and engaging global entrepreneurs to learn and grow."

A legacy of growth

"EO's presence on the continent has already reaped impressive rewards with its South African chapters. This has resulted in winning numerous entrepreneurial awards with the East African chapter winning the Randi Caroll Award as the best chapter globally (startup) and gaining excellent membership growth," Bharatam added.

Plans are also being made to further grow membership in Johannesburg and Cape Town and to identify champions to launch chapters in Accra, Pretoria, Durban and Dares Salam. This massive undertaking of growth into Africa will require much energy and resource from the organisation which is committed to providing forum training, learning events and constant communication to nurture the young chapters.