A New Realm of Possibilities

Opportunities

When people around the globe think of Africa, they visualize conflicts and war, famine, poverty, and desolation. But Jim Ovia is redefining this narrative and illustrating the real Africa behind the headlines. His commitment to his message is helping leaders around the world transform their vision of Africa from “the Hopeless Continent” to a collection of “Rising Nations.”

With a fast-growing middle class, Africa is ripe for new business ventures, both from local entrepreneurs and international investors. And as the man who took Zenith Bank from a $4 million investment to a $16 billion global banking institution, Jim is living proof of this.

Today, Africa is a continent of abundant human and natural resources, immense and diverse investment opportunities, and an economy that is primed for leapfrog strategies. Jim details not only the advantages Africa poses for entrepreneurs, but its challenges. However, to those with the right entrepreneurial vision, those challenges provide abundant opportunities. Poor infrastructure? The entrepreneur sees that as a chance to leverage structural improvements as a core component of a burgeoning brand identity. Inadequate electrical supply? The entrepreneur identifies such a deficiency as blank slate on which a new electrical supply can be built.

Jim reminds entrepreneurs and investors around the world of this valuable lesson: You must never allow the perceptions of others to impact your own vision of what is possible for the future.