Ambitious Liberia: Monrovia Ecosystem Launch
The Monrovia Ecosystem is now officially launched and accessible to the public. It is found at KeysEcosystem.com/Monrovia. The launching event was held on May 21 2021 in the Auditorium, University of Liberia Capitol Hill Campus, and was merged with the University of Liberia E-learning Workshop which brought together university students, youth leaders, young aspiring entrepreneurs, and stakeholders. Thanks to Ambitious Liberia and Ambitious.Africa for building this online resource platform. The Monrovia Ecosystem is a visual representation of resources to connect entrepreneurs to co-working spaces, accelerators, startups, hubs, financial and higher learning institutions, competitions, etc.
Participants of the “Ambitious Liberia: Monrovia Ecosystem Launch” event.
With the predominant objective of fostering economic growth and sustainable development through initiatives of this kind, Ambitious Liberia seeks to support young entrepreneurs and young aspiring Liberians to create an efficient entrepreneurial environment, thriving investment climate, and growth-oriented culture. This was highlighted and emphasized in the opening presentations delivered by both the Ambitious Africa founder, Mr. Ronny Erikson, and the Team Lead of Ambitious Liberia. Mr. Erikson’s presentation was delivered through a prerecorded video and was essentially about the Ambitious Africa campaign, its missions, visions, projects, partnerships, and prospects for the future.
Afterward, Mr. Teemu Merilainen provided a detailed walk-through on the Ecosystem platform showing how one can explore the site, navigate the categories available and make a specific selection based on preferences. He also provided a brief description of the background and benefits of the project. These were all covered in a fifteen-minute pre-recorded presentation on the “Review of Ambitious Africa Ecosystem Mapping Project”.
Dr. Edna Johnny, an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics, served as the keynote speaker. Dr. Johnny spoke on the theme “A look at Liberia’s Business Environment and the Importance of the Monrovia Ecosystem for Startups and Small Businesses”. At the beginning of her presentation, Dr. Johnny thanked the Ambitious Liberia Team and Ambitious Africa for organizing such a unique program. She expressed her amazement and excitement at seeing young people involved in positive initiatives. Considering the socio-economic challenges hindering progress in Liberia, Dr. Johnny however admonished the youths to be innovative and farsighted; to look in the direction of entrepreneurship as the most secure means of creating sustainable private sector growth, jobs, and ownership of the economy. Dr. Johnny also spoke on the importance of youths engaging in profitable ventures to create opportunities and prospects for future economic growth.
The event was held on-site at the University of Liberia, but participants and several speakers have also joined online from all over the world.
The two presentations were followed by an engaging and interactive panel discussion centered around four relevant thematic areas: Education, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, and Youth Leadership. This session was moderated by the Head of Event, Ms. Ma-ford D. Jah-Nwaru, and assisted by Co-team Lead for Partnership, Mr. Foeday Dennis. In order to explore the four themes outlined, the panel discussion brought together panelists from different fields of study and interests. Mr. Q. Randalson Saye is the current Director for the E-Learning Department at the University of Liberia. He holds a BBA degree in Accounting and led the discussion on Education and Entrepreneurship, while Ms. Roseline Joseph - Current Director for Programs and Operations at GIGAH, holds a Bsc degree in Geology, led the discussion on Environmental Sustainability and Youth Leadership. Through the exchanges and discussion, the session was a positive way of providing insights, and clarity on current issues. Here are examples of the questions asked and the responses from the Panelists.
Question from the Moderator: Considering the impacts of climate change and human interactions, what do you consider as our most urgent environmental challenge and how do we address it?
Response from Panelist: Getting rid of plastic waste. Today we have too many pollution cases resulting from plastic waste. This is what we have done to the environment. This is how we treat our surroundings. But we can do better by reducing some of the human activities that are contributing to this problem. Through mutual understanding and commitment, we can solve it. I think another way to start is by simply ensuring all parts of our communities, our neighborhoods, our living environments are free of open dumpsites. We should stop putting dirt in the waterways. Let us all work with our various city corporations to ensure the collection of waste is effective and efficient.
Question from the Moderator: What do you think is the secret to success as an entrepreneur?
Response from Panelist: If you want to be an entrepreneur, I mean a successful entrepreneur you must be willing to work hard, and willing to learn new things. For example, if you want to succeed in the tech industry, you need to be abreast with the latest trending technology. You can go about learning about AI (Artificial Intelligence), Chatbots, and figuring out how that's gonna help with customer service for instance. And apart from that, I would advise anyone thinking of becoming a successful entrepreneur to have a mindset of not giving up, not being afraid of facing complex challenges because along the way you will encounter setbacks, disappointment, rejections, and discomforting moments that will discourage you. Remember always this is a loss-win game. At times, you will invest. You will experience loss on your investment or profits but always do what you do because you love it. Do it with passion and that will keep you going even when you feel like giving up. Learn to be consistent and understand exactly what you are into.
Closing on the three sets of questions from the Moderator, the Panelists then entertained a few questions from the audience which climaxed the Q&A session.
The next and final session of the program was the E-learning training workshop and that aspect was led by Ambitious Liberia Team Lead, Prince Lassemento Fully. It was done in fulfillment of an agreement between Ambitious Liberia and the University of Liberia to provide basic introductory training on the University MOODLE E-learning platform which was launched last year to accelerate learning. At the end of the brief training, participants learned how to access the Login page, access the Course Dashboard, Edit user profiles, complete course surveys, and Access activities on the course page. As a final note, the Director for Student Affairs, Mr. Konneh, thanked the Ambitious Liberia team and expressed his support and collaborations on future endeavors.
About Ambitious Liberia
Ambitious Liberia is a national team of Ambitious.Africa. Started in the spring of 2020, Ambitious Liberia is the bridge between the Liberian, African and Nordic youths who are collaboratively working to build a sustainable future together. The collaboration is focused on education, entrepreneurship, and entertainment - connecting, inspiring, and empowering young people all in Africa and the Nordic countries to work together, lead the change and create transformation.