Jack Ma, the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group will meet with Ethiopian startup founders on Monday. November 25. To that effect, several heads of local startups have been contacted days ago and invited to meet one of the most influential business leaders in the world and China’s richest man. Jack Ma is expanding interest within the African continent which is a late comer to the concept of startups and free enterprise.
Here Is All You Need To Know
- While Ethiopia is no stranger to the interest of China and Chinese investment, this is to be China’s most prominent businessman first official visit to the nation and there is unconfirmed speculations that he might be interested in government held enterprises as Ethiopia is set to liberalize some of its sought after institutions and look out for foreign investors.
- According to sources, he is to lead a large business delegation and will be arriving in Addis Ababa Sunday afternoon.
- In the capital, he is to meet with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) on Monday morning at Skylight Hotel and on the same day; Jack Ma to meet with a number of Ethiopian startup founders at a round table discussion and have an audience with Minister Getahun Mekuria (PhD) of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology.
- Earlier this year, Minister Getahun met with Jack and discussed ways he and his Alibaba Group could help build the nations infant digital economy sector.
- This followed a visit of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) to the headquarters of Alibaba to discuss investment within Ethiopia earlier this year.
Read also: You Don’t Win Because Of The Amount of Money Your Startup Raises — Alibaba Founder, Jack Ma The 55 year old Chinese entrepreneur, who resigned from his position at Alibaba this year is no stranger to the African continent, making frequent visits to nations such as Rwanda, South Africa and Ghana, meeting with young entrepreneurs and being the donor of the Africa Netpreneur Prize that grants 1 million USD to young African entrepreneurs with good and practical ideas.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world