THE NODE AFRICA INITIATIVE: 2011 Pilot Phase Results & Future Plans 

Table of Contents

“ I loved my internship experience all through mainly because of the kind of people I met there. I enjoyed assisting them in all ways I could, exchanging ideas and opinions & learning from them.”

Phoebe Akumu

2011 FELLOW IN KENYAAfrican Leadership Academy (Junior)

About Us Our Team Partners & Supporters

The Fellowship Program in Ethical BusinessFrom the O!ce: A Fellow’s Blogging Experience

My Legacy Photo Campaign

Budget Progress Report Next Phase

Where We Are in 2012

We started the Node Africa initiative in June 2011. Our mission is to enable young Africans to launch careers in social enterprise and to invest in talent acquisition at promising African companies.

We decided to designate the "rst year as a pilot phase to test our concept and re"ne our model. Our task was straightforward: Develop a model for a career development program that we can scale across all regions within the African continent in the next ten years.

We are diligently in the midst of planning our 2nd annual class of Node Africa fellows (and our upcoming trip to the World Economic Forum in Addis Ababa!). But as in every moment of life, it is important to take time and re#ect. Here we take a moment to outline our plan of how we intend to expand and sustain our initiative.

Welcome

The Node Africa Team

Meet the Hands Behind the Work: 2011-2012 Sta! The Node Africa Team

A recent graduate, Afkera is a "rst year Teach for America corps member in the Metro-Atlanta region. She teaches 6th grade science at a middle school in South Fulton County. Eritrean by descent, her passion for Africa is rooted in her African heritage and upbringing. Afkera's involvement with Node Africa began in her senior year while she was President of the Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa at Harvard, a international group dedicated to empowering young African leaders for the development of the continent.

Afkera Daniel, VP of Programs adaniel@nodeafrica.org

Nnenna is Program Coordinator at Node Africa. Before joining Node Africa, she focused on researching the business experience of female street vendors in Lagos, Nigeria through which she witnessed the hardships associated with working within the informal economy. The experience made her realize the need for a concerted career development program for aspiring African professionals. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering and Biology and received the 2011 Tisch Scholar Citizenship Award

Nnenna Okoye, Program Coordinator nokoye@nodeafrica.org

Partners and Supporters

Principal Supporter Individual Donors:

Mr. Marcus Cheek (Logo Design) Ms. Kelly McClorey Dr. Florence Onubogu

Partners

Board of Advisory Council

Dr. Uche Amazigo, World Health Organization APOC Director, Retired

Mr. Peter Nakitare, Crescent Springs Limited, Founder & Owner

A recent graduate of Tufts University, Mr. Nakitare is an owner and co-founder of Crescent Springs Limited in his native country of Kenya, where he is involved in the business’s oversight and planning. Through his involvement in AIESEC, as the president of the Tuft’s Chapter, he worked to facilitate internship opportunities, domestically and abroad, for students seeking to work on foreign shores. Currently residing in the United States, he seeks to support e$orts to further develop the professional opportunities for students in African nations.

Mr. Okpalaugo joined Union Bank of Nigeria PLC in 2006 and is currently an administrator of several e-packages in the eSupport and Switch Unit of the eBusiness Department. His successes include playing a major role in the recovery of eBusiness data during the database crash that a$ected the bank in 2008. He was a team member in some projects in the bank, such as the Issuing and Acquiring of VISA debit cards; deployment of Transaction Alerts application; Deployment of Quickteller applications on ATMs bank wide. Collins still "nds time to engage in youth re-orientation and other such community development programs. He is a recipient of several awards, including “Most Outstanding Personality Award in 2002”.

Trained in public health and parasitology, Dr. Amazigo was formerly a senior lecturer in medical parasitology and public health at the University of Nigeria. Her research experience encompasses adolescent reproductive health, strategies for controlling neglected tropical diseases and community-directed health interventions (CDI). Her interest in gender and onchocerciasis (river blindness) led to her pioneering research that formed the scienti!c basis for establishing APOC, which has sucessfully million people for river blindness since its conception.

Mr. Collins Okpalaugo, Union Bank of Nigeria PLC, eBusiness Department

The Mission:

Enable Youth to Launch Careers in Ethical Enterprise

With over two-thirds of Africans under the age of 24 and over 50 percent under the age of 15, Africa possesses the world’s youngest population. Of the 200 million youth seeking jobs in Africa, the World Bank estimates nearly 60% are consistently unemployed. The portion of unemployed youth (aged 15-24) among the total unemployed hovers around 56% in Burkina Faso and eclipses at 68% and 83% in Zimbabwe and Uganda, respectively. The 2008 World Bank report, "Youth and Employment in Africa: The

Potential, The Problem, The Promise, ” reported that unemployment rates are actually higher among youth with high levels of educational attainment compared to their counterparts lacking any formal educational training. This is a surprise to many, especially to those who advocate that "more education" is the answer. And perhaps they are partially right. Perhaps what is missing in the equation isn't just education, but a focus on practical education--the type that extends beyond the classroom. That's where we enter into the picture. We focus on creating "eld-based learning projects and professional opportunities for young professionals to develop career skills, nurture professional networks and gain experience at growing companies.

World Bank, “Africa Development Indicators 2008/09”

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“ALA feels strongly that internships are a key aspect of the curriculum as it provides students with valuable exposure to the formal working environment. Internships also provide students with the opportunity to learn about various

careers, which is critical to their development as leaders beyond ALA.

We look forward to partnering with Node Africa and together pursue youth engagement in Africa’s private sector.”

- Naomi Alphonsus, External Relations Coordinator, African Leadership Academy (2011)

Why We Focus on Secondary Education

Why do we choose to focus our career program on high school students? As in many emerging markets, most African countries face signi"cant challenges in improving the quality of university-level educational system. While only an elite minority attend university, the vast majority of students are enrolled in primary and secondary school. Nevertheless, data on primary and secondary enrollment shows us that our emphasis on secondary pupils allows us to reach a diverse socioeconomic demographic. And while there are a few programs connecting university graduates to internships , we have yet to "nd a single program suited for secondary school pupils.

Node Africa is the only career development service that works to connect African high school students with professional opportunities in their neighborhood, hometown, or local province through a transparent online application process. By building a continental business network, we are poised to become an important connection point for businesses to identify promising talent and for African professionals to identify professional opportunities.

"Made in Africa. Made for Africa.”

We intentionally modeled this as a wholly African initiative. Node Africa is created by Africans and is for Africans. Our internship program is exclusively intended for African nationals and/or permanent residents. In selecting partner host companies we only extend invitations to companies consisting of management with at least one African citizen & companies that originated in Africa. Our sta$ and advisory board is made entirely of Africans. Why this emphasis?

Just like our partners, we think it is important to demonstrate that Africans can spearhead their own solutions. And while our emphasis on African-led businesses may initially seem quite narrow, the in redible diversity within

Africa lends a great deal of diversity to our approach . The Fellowship in Ethical Business is thus intended for every African high school student of any socioeconomic status, gender, nationality and race.

Just like our partners, we think it is important to demonstrate that Africans can spearhead their own solutions.

A Message from the O!ce: A Fellow Blogs About Her Experience

Phoebe Akumu

“ What would possibly be better than attending a stylish cocktail, networking with movie stars and producers and equally bonding with friends? The Film Forward cocktail made Week 3 at Hot Sun Foundation the most memorable experience I have had while interning there. Though I did "nances under the "nancial manager,in the course of the week, I also got the opportunity to represent Hot Sun Foundation in the "lm forward screening event that took place in Museum Hill.During the course of the event, I met Taika Waititi himself, upcoming "lm producers and artists and shared my thoughts with international producers and directors. This is de"nitely a memorable event.”

At the 13th Annual Harvard Business Africa Conference, the organizers asked us “What will your

legacy be?” We thought it was such a great question, that we wanted to hear more responses. So

we decided to continue the question and start the “My Legacy” Photo Campaign! This summer we

are also asking youth of the African diaspora to contribute their hopes at student conferences,

starting with the 2012 Umu Igbo Alliance Convention in Chicago.

Pictures from the “My Legacy” Campaign

The “My Legacy” Photo Campaign

-Phoebe, Social Media Intern at Hot Sun Films

Business Partner:

Name: Hot Sun Films

Business Sector: Film Industry Hot Sun Films is a "lm/video production and training company in Nairobi, Kenya. The company also operates a philanthropic division that trains disadvantaged youths in "lmaking, acting, script writing and camera work.

Work Assessment:

The company needed assistance with launching a more sucessful social media campaign and organzing their "nancial activites. Hot Sun Films Director, Ms. Mercy Murugi, was the designated mentor.

2010-2011 Investment

PILOT BUDGET

CLIENT:

WEEK OF:

$1,500

FULL PROJECT 100% SPENT

JULY 4!AUGUST 15, 2011

HOT SUN FILMS PROGRESS REPORTPilot Year Budget

Money spent on work completed so far.

TIMEFRAME

PLACE

Nairobi, Kenya

FULL PROJECT 50% DONE

I!"#$!%&'()*+$,-.!),")/.")0+!)1'23%)

6 Weeks

IN PROGRESS

An Outline of Future Steps NEXT PHASE PLAN

Phase 1: Pilot Phase (2011)

Phase 2: Node Africa Fellowship in Ethical Business Formal Launch in select target countries (tentatively: Morocco, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya & South Africa) (2012-2014)

Phase 3: Launch of the “Inspire & Educate” Phase (2015-onwards) In addition to continuing the Fellowship Career Program, we intend to begin hosting short, interactive activities on entrepreneurship in classrooms. We also look to host an annual business plan competition and sponsor educational "eld trips to business & trade fairs, such as the Indaba Design Expo in Cape Town.

Phase 4: Alumni Program (2016-onwards)The Alumni Program will support the ongoing professional and leadership development of Node Africa fellows.

Phase 5: Node Africa Career Center (2017-onwards)An online career portal for Node Africa partners and alumni at other companies to list employment opportunities.

Develop Additional School & Business

Partnerships in Morocco, Uganda,

Rwanda, Kenya & South Africa

Finalize Selection of 2nd Node Africa

class by June 10th, 2012

File for Sep rate NGO 501c3 Board

Certi"cation

PROJECT TIMELINE

NOW IN PHASE

1 2 3 4 5

OUR GOAL By 2017:

100 Node Africa Fellows

Node Africa Fellowships in 2012These are the sites where we plan to o!er internships this year.

Applications are now open for secondary students to apply on our website at www.nodeafrica.org

Thank you for reading our "rst report! We welcome your feedback and encourage you to share your ideas with us.

Node Africa | info@nodeafrica.org | www. nodeafrica.org | Enabling Youth to Launch Careers in Ethical Enterprise

Pictures from the “My Legacy” Campaign