Joyce Sarpong
Zuriel Oduwole, a 14 Year Old Nigerian female education advocate, recently spoke at the UN General Assembly. Below is a link to a video report of the event.
Zuriel speaks at the UN & listens to world leaders on the climate change initiative.
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International Political Forum, The IPF
The IPF empowers the next generation of journalists to tell the stories that they think should make it onto the news agenda.
In a world where the media is run by a select group of people, the IPF is here to put the power back in young people’s hands. We aim to give all our contributors the guidance they need to tell the stories they care about – and do so in a way that grabs the attention of people around the world. The IPF believes that everyone has an important story to tell. We want to enable young people to find and tell these stories.
For further information about IPF, please visit their website.
Learn How to Take Your Business to Africa
Business in Africa Pays is a series of conferences, exhibitions and trade missions each with a specific sub-Saharan country focus. Their events have been created to highlight the opportunities available to the socially conscious and the business minded who want to be at the forefront of a volume of growth that has never been seen before.
For further information about Business in Africa Pays, please visit their website.
When I think about the African leaders we have and compare the state of our African nations pre and post independence, I find myself asking the question: "Of what value is the hard won independence that African nations commemorate on a yearly basis?
African leaders are becoming increasingly democratic and are making significant progress in liberalising the political environment. They are more accountable to their citizens, and showing more respect for human rights and civil liberties. Whilst good governance is gaining ground in Africa, it's happening at a snail’s pace and the bad eggs still linger.
Last week, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, appointed himself as oil minister and will be naming his new cabinet on Tuesday. Upon his appointment as President, Buhari, vowed to tackle the inherent problem of corruption in Nigeria. On Friday, Nigeria's former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke was arrested in London.
The US Daily Show host, South African Trevor Noah, reminded me of this when last week, he argued that Trump may actually be an ideal president—for Africa. He said: “For me, as an African, there’s just something familiar about Trump that makes me feel at home,” said Noah, who is from South Africa. Noah then compared comments made by Trump (on everything from immigration to self-praise) to comments made by a variety of current and former African leaders, including South African president Jacob Zuma, Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe, and even the former Libyan leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi.
Trevor Noah’s comments are indicative of the leadership issues Africa faces. Issues of constitutionalism, good governance and democracy are determined by the type of leadership in a country and/or continent. After 50 years of independence, leadership in Africa still struggles to promote pro-people policies that accommodate the needs of the populace. Leadership deficiency is a cause for concerning African countries in terms of progressive and visionary leadership.
African politicians need to provide good leadership qualities so as to consolidate democracy and good governance. The seven characteristics of good leadership are:
- Integrity – ‘The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is …. on a football field, in an army or in an office’ said former US President Eisenhower.
- Service – As Oswald Sanders wrote, ‘True leadership is achieved not by reducing people to one’s service, but in giving oneself in selfless service to them.
- Sensitivity – Steven Covey wrote that it is important to seek first to understand your context and then seek to be understood.
- Competency – The ability to demonstrate both professional and leadership competencies with regards to sufficient understanding about the vision, mission and goals of their institution or nation.
- Accountability – Taking personal responsibility for actions and omissions.
Good governance and effective leadership are required at all levels of leadership in private, public and civil organisations and essential to in order to achieve and sustain effective administration.
Photo credit: gcouros / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA
Seth Godwin wrote: ‘Transformational leaders don’t start by denying the world around them. Instead, they describe a future they’d like to create instead.’ Therefore, an essential element of leadership is vision. African leaders need strong visionary leadership in order to consolidate democracy, good governance, provide added value to their people and in so doing, enhance the brand image of Africa.
AfricaOracle is passionate about amplifying brand Africa. We are doing this with our digital magazines on the Flipboard platform and currently, we have over 3,300 followers. You can support our mission by following our magazines. Check out AfricaOracle’s portfolio of magazines on Flipboard and our main magazine is Africa 2020.
AfricaOracle Managing Director, Joyce Sarpong, was recently made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) following her recent participation in the RSA’S African Diaspora Changemakers Programme.
In April, Joyce was interviewed by the RSA to look at her progress since the programme. Joyce said: “I am delighted to have been invited to become a Fellow of the RSA. I have long admired the work of the Royal Society, and it is an honour to have joined.”
The RSA, founded in 1754, has 27,000 Fellows, who want to change the world for the better, and Joyce has been recognised for the work she is leading on at AfricaOracle, improving the media’s negative image of the continent.
The RSA provides a platform for the world’s leading thinkers, for new and innovative ways to solve society’s biggest challenges.
Fellows are allowed access to a number of resources, including a lending library and workspace, within the RSA House, based in Central London.
As well as the aforementioned benefits, Fellows also have access to the RSA Catalyst programme, where they are provided support and expertise to help get their ideas off the ground.
Following the Changemakers Programme, Joyce and a number of fellow participants formed a group called the Africa Mpya Foundation (AMF), which is working to set up a financial institution aiming to improve access to finance for Africans in the diaspora.
In addition to lending to individuals and small businesses in the diaspora, the institution will assist in funding development projects in collaboration with state and other public bodies in Africa.
For more information on the RSA visit their website on www.theRSA.org
AfricaOracle regularly takes on interns to assist the work of the Managing Director Joyce Sarpong, as well as the ever-increasing workload of a business increasing in size.
This blog post will give you the perspective of just a few of our recent interns, their thoughts on the internship programme, and their work for AfricaOracle.
AfricaOracle Managing Director, Joyce Sarpong, recently took part in Google’s outreach program to find the UK’s top black students.
AfricaOracle’s non-profit business, Africa 2020 along with four Google student, took part in the program as one of four businesses, and won. The vision of Africa 2020 is to contribute to the transformation of the image of Africa, by providing readers with positive stories relating to the continent.
Stéphanie’s story:
“As a student of Applied Foreign Languages I have learned a lot about communication through my work with AfricaOracle. “My work centred around the creation of a weekly newsletter, as well as ensuring the website was kept up-to-date. “I particularly enjoyed my time working on the digital publication Africa2020, using the Flipboard software to create a resource that readers would find interesting. “Nowadays, people see the African continent as poor, where all the worst diseases begin, and where the countries are not developed. AfricaOracle is seeking to change this image, and that is why I like the idea behind it. “I am French with African roots, and it was important for me to increase my knowledge about the continent. Thanks to the work I did with AfricaOracle I was able to develop my understanding.”
Stéphanie interned for AfricaOracle in summer 2015
Stefyi’s story:
“I joined AfricaOracle to learn new things about countries in Africa and improve my English.
“The work I did involved social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Flipboard, and I was tasked with planning posts for these, as well as creating images for the blog.
“Working with the other interns, I also researched content for africaoracle.com.
“I am proud that I am able to say “I was there at the beginning of AfricaOracle”. It was a pleasure to participate in building a positive image of brand Africa.”
Stefyi interned for AfricaOracle in summer 2014
Alima’s story:
Working with AfricaOracle showed me how a business can develop, especially in the electronic age.
I developed my knowledge of how to promote a business and brand, and gain more customers.
I also learned a lot about Africa, and that there are countries on the continent people tend to forget about.
Alima interned for AfricaOracle in summer 2014
Anna-Melanie - Student in IT
AfricaOracle was my first immersion in work world.
As a french caribbean student, join AfricaOracle was an opportunity for me to practice my english, agree my knowledge and to feel closer to Africa.
My internship was focused on IT so improve the website and sharpen a directory was our challenge. With my collegue we also launch the infographics.
It was easy to be enthusiastic by the project and we passed through all the issues because of that.
I have learned a lot about humain and work attitude.
Alima interned for AfricaOracle in summer 2014
AfricaOracle Managing Director, Joyce Sarpong, recently took part in Google’s outreach program to find the UK’s top black students.
AfricaOracle’s non-profit business, Africa 2020 along with four Google student, took part in the program as one of four businesses, and won. The vision of Africa 2020 is to contribute to the transformation of the image of Africa, by providing readers with positive stories relating to the continent.
The Top Black Talent Program, which aims to identify and develop the UK’s top black university students interested in business careers, was held in March 2015.
Participants, who were paired up with businessmen and women including AfricaOracle’s Joyce Sarpong, took part in a seven-week mentoring program at Google’s London headquarters.
Four student teams were created and partnered with black female entrepreneurs, with each team tasked with competing in the Google Online Marketing Challenge.
The Google Online Marketing Challenge, which has been running for 8 years, has seen over 100,000 students and professors from over 100 countries create online marketing campaigns using Google AdWords and Google+.
As part of this challenge each team was provided with $250 worth of AdWords advertising budget, and were tasked with running an online advertising campaign for the business owners.
AfricaOracle Managing Director Joyce Sarpong said: “The marketing strategy devised through the program increased the brand awareness of AfricaOracle and Africa 2020, and increased readership numbers of our main online publication, Africa 2020 magazine.
“The Top Black Talent Program has equipped me with a better understanding of Google AdWords and how they can help grow my business online.”
For more information about the Top Black Talent Program, please click here.
Google also runs programs including the Google Online Marketing Challenge (GOMC) all year round, where they offer people the chance to take a Digital Marketing Course, after which they will become AdWords certified.
On 21st September 1909, Kwame Nkrumah was born. He is the founding father of Ghana and the man who led Ghana to independence from Britain in 1957. As Mali & Guinea celebrate their Independence Day this week, I would like to pose this question: "What is the significance of Independence Day to us in current times?"
For me, as a person who only spent a couple of my formative years in my motherland, Ghana’s Independence Day was a time for celebrations with friends and family with lots of singing and dancing. Educational and government institutions were the most visible national event. What was Independence Day like when you were young? You would probably remember seeing on TV the nation's leaders unfurling the national flag.
Photo credit: Wikipedia
The event itself has meant different things at different times in my live and as time moves on, I no longer celebrate as I did in my youth. In fact nowadays, the pressures of modern life, the act of celebrating often passes me by. However, notwithstanding this, Ghana and Africa are always in my heart. Rabindranath Tagore's poem below reflects my aspiration and AfricaOracle's mission and vision for the true potential of Africa to be fulfilled and for our people to be in peace and prosper.
Where the Mind is Without Fear ~ by Rabindranath Tagore
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection:
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action—
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Photo credit: drp / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND
Reflection on The Past
Let us take a few moments to reflect for a moment - reflect on how our individual nations have done in the past, and where it is headed to in the present and in the times to come. Now is not the time to criticize the 'founding fathers' of the nation for what they could not achieve or visualize. Rather, it is a time to renew the pledges and hope for our nations and Africa.
Photo credit: Kenzoka / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA
Ambassadors of Africa
So, let us be thankful for the life we live in freedom and take the opportunity to give back something to our nations. Let us on this occasion ask what we can do for our nations. Let us remember that each of us is an ambassador and representative of our nation, a partner in the progressing history of nations and Africa, our motherland.
The great Nelson Mandela said: “You can start changing the world for the better daily, no matter how small the action.” So let us be the change we wish to see in Africa.