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The Indian Tiger and the Chinese Dragon have had their days and it's
now the African Lion's turn
Mara Group Founder, Ashish Thakkar

(CNN)— From banking to hospitality and real estate to e-commerce,
Ashish Thakkar built his vast business empire from scratch.
The
Ugandan tycoon started small with a little computer shop that kept
him busy after leaving school at 15. These days, his Mara Group spans
over 20 countries and he's been called " Africa's youngest billionaire."
In late 2013 Thakkar joined forces with the former boss of Barclays
bank -- Bob Diamond -- to start an investment fund focused on Africa
called Atlas Mara . The powerful duo raised $325 million through a
share flotation - well above the $250 million target.
But his vision spans beyond Africa, and Earth -- Thakkar was the first
African to sign up for the opportunity to travel to space with Richard
Branson's company, Virgin Galactic.

CNN's Marketplace Africa spoke to Thakkar about African innovation,
entrepreneurship and collaboration. An edited version of the interview
follows.

CNN: You are active in several African countries. How is the current
business landscape on the continent?

Ashish Thakkar : Right now in the last 18 years I have been active on
the continent, I have never seen so much global excitement around
Africa that I've seen today. The climate and the ease of doing business
on the continent has drastically improved. Unfortunately, it's one of
those cases where perception is so different from reality. The reality on
the ground is so much better than the perception. You've got to
remember, as Africa, we are 54 countries. Some of the countries may
be challenging and may have issues, but that cannot be an excuse to
generalize the entire continent which is unfortunately something that
happens quite a bit.

CNN: Why do you think that entrepreneurs are so important to the
future growth of the African continent?

AT : We have a very young demographic -- 85% of our populations are
under the age of 35. We have an extremely entrepreneurial society and
culture. Yet, entrepreneurship is not in the education system. Where
do our entrepreneurs go for advice and the right guidance? And it's
something, frankly, that I am extremely passionate about, because the
answer to unemployment is not foreign direct investment or large scale
manufacturing plants, etc. It's going to be nurturing small and medium
enterprises. So, it's great to see that there is a real entrepreneurial
vibe coming into the system, and innovation is totally embedded into
that.

CNN: What is it about Africa that encourages innovation?

AT : The biggest advantage we have at the moment, and you've seen
this with mobile phone penetration, is that we don't have legacy
systems. We didn't have landlines and we didn't need them. We didn't
have to go through that hassle of creating landlines everywhere. We
leapfrogged straight into mobile telephony. Today, we have over 750
million phones on the continent -- more than North America and
Western Europe put together.
Now this is how you take a selfie!
3:42 AM - 11 Apr 2014
Ashish J. Thakkar
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We can actually leapfrog in so many different ways. Mobile money is
another brilliant example. Mobile money was created in Kenya. The
whole concept of having money on your phone, which is the best
thing because it's secure, it's practical, made more sense. So, these
kind of innovations, you're going to see a lot more of on the
continent. I spend a lot of time with young entrepreneurs when I travel
across the continent, and just seeing the kind of innovation and new
ideas and concepts that they're coming up with is just so inspiring.

CNN: What advice would you give to a young entrepreneur who's just
starting out?

AT : Entrepreneurship is a journey, it's not a destination. There are
going to be so many challenges, you are going to get knocked down
so many times, but you've got to get up, dust yourself off and get
back to it. The persistence, the passion, and staying on course is very
crucial. You'll be tempted to cut corners, you'll be tempted to do
things that get you there quicker, but it never lasts. People say the
youth are the leaders of tomorrow - we're not. We're the leaders of
today, but it's our responsibility to take the seat at the table.

CNN: What needs to be done most urgently to grow African
economies?

AT : Pan-African collaboration is extremely important. I think things
like regional integration, inter-African trade does need to increase and
is increasing. I mean, the progress in the East African community has
been amazing. The manner in which they've harmonized so many
different laws and policies and mindset and priorities within that
region has been fantastic. So, we need to see more of that take place
on the continent. The fact that we're 54 countries, yet we're a billion
people is an advantage and a disadvantage. I think to strengthen our
weakness in that collaboration across the continent is crucial.
Great fun hanging in #Dubai with my partner
@rediamondjr #Africa #AtlasMara
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@AshishJThakkar Follow
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CNN: Are you confident about the future of the continent?

AT : I am so bullish and so proud of how the continent has evolved in
terms of leadership, the mindset of our leaders. It is so inspiring to see
that. It's unfortunate that, you know, globally the highlight remains
things like Ebola...The little issues that we do have are just magnified,
yet on the broad scale we are doing so amazing.

CNN: Is this Africa's century?

AT : Mara's logo is the African Lion and our little joke, which a lot of
people don't appreciate, hence I love it even more, is that the Indian
Tiger and the Chinese Dragon have had their days and it's now the
African Lion's turn. And it genuinely is -- this is our turn.

Even d OP sef didnt read dis finsh! Hmmmm

Too long to read

.

Billionaire in his country's currency?

This guy's networth is not up to a billion dollars. But he's doing a great work.