Mindset is more important than ever
- Name: Mohamed El Moustapha
- Job title: Co-Founder
- Company: Agro-Industries of North LLC (Agro Industries Du Nord Sarl)
- Programme: Survive to Thrive
- Country: Senegal
A shift in mindset helps prevent Senegalese agribusiness from closing
Mohamed El Moustapha the Co-founder of Agro-Industries of North LLC, a company that produces and processes rice in Senegal had ambitious plans for the year 2020. Then the Covid-pandemic led to the economic disruptions that no one could have expected.
“Our revenue projection for 2020 was one million dollars but with COVID-19, everything changed,” said Mohamed speaking from Dakar.
Like many entrepreneurs in Mohammed’s position, he took part in one of our series of programmes focused on supporting ambitious businesses to survive the lockdowns and restrictions that disrupted their plans. In 2020 alone, AMI supported over 3,700 businesses across Africa through our MSME focused bootcamps and business growth programmes.
“ Survive to Thrive, came at the right time because when COVID-19 hit we barely had much going on with the business. Things were so complicated. We spent a lot of time running back and forth to the bank to just make sure we were still on the same page with matters of finance. Being a part of the programme helped me re-centre all my goals. I loved it from the word go, the name out rightly spoke to me: Survive to Thrive!”
Mohammed says that being part of the programme taught him how to be resilient and that business is not just about the money but the hard work that you put into growing your business.
As he went through the online learning courses he began identifying some of the pitfalls in his business one of them being procrastination. For the past 3 years, he had not been staying up to date with his business financial statements. He had them prepared by his accountant, but as the business owner, he was not up to date.
“I took the courses for business financial management, compliance and governance and I’ve now learnt the importance of keeping track and staying up to date especially with the local authorities and banks whom I may need for financial support during times like this.”
Mohamed now says that he has a folder on his laptop with all AMI business tools that he downloaded since joining the programme in May 2020.
“Every week I usually go in, open the tool I want to use and work on it. The interesting thing is that they are editable files so every time I work on something, I can save it and get back to it where I left off without losing any data or information.”
Related posts
Which African countries promote entrepreneurship best?
The Alan Gray Centre for African Entrepreneurship has created the African Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Index (AEEI) to address poor-quality data in Africa for analyzing entrepreneurship. The index consists of seven components that assess the entrepreneurial ecosystem in each country. Mauritius has been ranked as the most friendly country for entrepreneurs, followed by South Africa.
The power of infrastructure to boost business
Infrastructure is crucial for business growth and productivity. It includes transportation networks, energy grids, and telecommunications systems that reduce operational costs and foster innovation. Modern infrastructure attracts investment, spurs economic development, and empowers businesses to thrive in competitive markets. By providing the essential framework for commerce, infrastructure drives sustainable business success and propels economies forward.
AMI Impact Insights Report: Women create more jobs for women after Business Development Support
AMI has released new data highlighting key findings related to women entrepreneurs across Africa in a report titled Greenshoots for African female entrepreneurs – with a forest still to grow.