“Its Time For Africa”: Ashish Thakkar

“We are passionate about the continent as this is truly our turn. The turn for the Chinese tiger has passed, the turn for the Japanese tiger has passed, and it is the turn of the African lion which is the logo of the Mara Group .”~ Ashish Thakkar, Uganda

Listen to Ashish J. Thakkar’s interview about his journey to create Mara Group and its contribution in Africa.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iGfwDENB8Y

MOSAICQUE Magazine, is privileged to feature Ashish Thakkar, a dynamic, transformational, young prodigy, entreprenuer, under forty millionaire, in its January 2014 edition, who has taken on bold steps in transforming the African continent with his company Mara Group and Mara Foundation. The vision of Mara Group, is to transform the continent vis-a-vis investments in land development, technology sector, agrarian transformation and youth entreprenuership. Ashish Thakkar transforms 8000 lives in 19 countries across Africa through Mara group and has launched many entreprenuers through Mara Foundation.

Mara Foundation is a social enterprise dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship in Africa. Ashish believes it is imperative for businesses to give back to their communities. Out of the greatest lessons he has learned in the business, it has helped him in creating the Mara Foundation to help early stage entrepreneurs. He is very proud of the work they do through the Foundation, which is helping to tackle problems in education and providing much needed support to young entrepreneurs at the start of their journey. Mara Foundation provides three different types of support for them – mentoring, launching pad and resources.

The Mara Group is diversified and venture’s into areas that meet four criteria: it must be pan- African, it must impact society positively, it must be a game-changer and must be above board.

MOSAICQUE, optimistically dwelled on what was Ashish’s vision for Africa.
Ahsish believes in transforming the economic opportunities in the continent by ushering in the Green Revolution, creating a hub for eco-tourism in Africa, and being a catalyst to economically empower the African youth. He advises young African entrepreneurs to be passionate, focused and determined.
Ashish believes that Africa is making strides in economic development, leap frogging in scientific discoveries, and taking every efforts towards bringing peace on the continent.

MOSAICQUE, asked if Africa will be able to achieve its millennium development goals by 2015.
Ashish’s advise for African Leaders is to take on the 21st century challenges and move on full throttle. He believes in strong, inclusive, ethical leadership, and providing positive impact on the communities that are part of the projects.

He lives by the motto that success should never be measured by wealth, but by how much of an impact and a difference you are making in the community.

Profile: Ashish is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Africa and was recently awarded ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the World Entrepreneurship Forum in Singapore. Ashish advises several Heads of State in Sub-Saharan Africa i.e. President Paul Kagame, President Kikawate, President Goodluck Jonathan and President Museveni.

Ashish is honoured by World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader and has been invited to sit on its board of Africa Council since 2012. Young Rwandan Achievers Award has recognized Ashish Thakkar for his exceptional accomplishments and contribution towards the betterment of society. Ashish Thakkar has been honoured by Dell as the most influential entrepreneur and invited him to be on the Board of Council of Dell Center for Entrepreneurs. Ashish has been named as the Africa’s Youngest Millionaire by Forbes Magazine.

Ashish is passionate about enabling, empowering and inspiring young entrepreneurs. Consequently, in 2009, he founded the Mara Foundation to foster and support emerging entrepreneurs through mentorship and venture philanthropy. To know more visit http://www.mara-foundation.org

Ashish has secured a place on Virgin Galactic’s inaugural mission to space, thereby making him Africa’s second astronaut.

Read the pdf version: Ashish Thakkar It’s time for Africa