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Ladies and gentlemen, Entrepreneurship is IN! Not just because entrepreneurs are some of the coolest peeps ever, but because we Africans have a very real challenge on our hands. The dilemma presented by Africa's youth bulge: to either sink or swim in the face of youth unemployment and other issues. The good news is that there's a growing awareness of just how much of an opportunity or a challenge the youth bulge presents for Africa, and people and organizations like Christabel Ofori and the iHAV (I Have a Vision) Foundation are working on capacity building and employment generation by putting "Vision in ACTion!" with the IHAV Conference. What iHAV Conference: An annual conference "designed to raise a generation of young African entrepreneurs who will work collaboratively to create employment and provide sustainable solutions to Africa's challenge". 2014 Theme : Creating an Agribusiness Revolution with Africa's Youth. Topics: Embrac...

We're excited to be partnering with Lean Startup Machine (LSM), a three-day workshop on starting a successful new business. Most new startups fail because they build something no one wants. LSM teaches you a systematic process for learning which products or services will succeed and which ones will not. Over 25,000 entrepreneurs have had their lives changed by the LSM experience. The date for LSM in Accra will be announced soon. Sign-up today to be notified and get a chance to win a free ticket to the event: click HERE . the lean startup machine - accra team  email:     lean.accra@gmail.com twitter:   @leanaccra facebook:  https://www. facebook.com/leanaccra website:   https://www. leanstart upmachine.com/cities/ accra/ dashboard

The third annual CHALE WOTE Street Art Festival takes place in James Town on September 7 th  and 8 th , 2013. The festival is produced by ACCRA [dot] ALT and a host of collaborators across the city including The Foundation for Contemporary Art – Ghana, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Institut Français, Alliance Française, Dr. Monk, No Limits Charity, Absolut Vodka and The Attukwei Art Foundation. The second edition of the CHALE WOTE Street Art Festival held on April 14th, 2012 was a major success and the collective effort of many young people—ranging from artists, musicians and writers to designers, students and activists—who worked together to produce Accra’s only street art festival. The one-day festival included street painting, sidewalk painting, graffiti murals, live music performances, a fashion circus, extreme sport stunting, experimental theater, spoken word, art workshops and Installations. The festival d rew over 4,000 people last year - loads more people are...

“Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.” - Rumi  -- It goes without saying that I'm somewhat of an oddity in these parts. Everyone's looking at me. I probably should have done some quick research online to get a sense of the diversity in Istanbul, but I was too eager to get outside, to breathe in the same air that Rumi probably did way back in the 13th century. Okay, maybe the same air is an exaggeration, but I really wanted to just immerse myself in what little of Turkey I had access to, even if for the briefest of moments. And so I ventured outside the Radisson Blu hotel where I'm staying, compliments of Turkish Air. I had been told there wasn't too much to see here besides a park and a bridge. The hotel reviews online generally said the location was great for transits given the proximity of the airport, but far removed from the city's historical sites. That's fine, I didn't want tourism, I wanted Tur...

Today was a blog waiting to happen. Only, it’s not going to be about the Ghanaian and African Embassies in the West as I’d intended – don’t worry, it will have its time too – but rather about contemporary books, libraries and reading in major African cities like Accra, Lusaka, Jo-burg, Lagos, Dakar. It features some   great insights from people on Facebook   and Twitter on   Africa’s reading culture   and access to contemporary books. Yesterday I participated in a very fruitful Virtual Americanah Book Club meeting with two of my friends – one in Accra, Ghana and the other in Maputo, Mozambique – and we had a swell time reflecting on Chimamanda Adichie’s latest, how it resonates with us, the different themes and so on. I posted some of my thoughts and a tweep asked where they could get the book. I have gotten this question so many times this year – especially after   my “summer reads” blog   - and so I automatically responded “Amazon” and sent a link. T...

A great thing about traveling is the people you meet. Not just the people you end up sharing a street, apartment, class, work space with, but also the people you share an aisle with on the train or plane. For the most part, I have shared my travel space with nice, interesting people - persons who are either non-hostile or extremely pleasant, with the former occurring just once. On my way back to Ghana for the Christmas holidays - my first in seven years! - I sat next to an elderly Ethiopian man who, for lack of a better description, had eyes that twinkled. He was friendly right from the moment he smiled and asked "19L?" when I tried to put my hand luggage in the overhead cabin. "Yes, that's me," I responded, before heading over to the window seat. He explained that he was trying to find an aisle seat since it's easier to move about considering his age - he seemed to be at least 70 years. I have always preferred the window seats I've typically been as...

"For the spirit of Christmas fulfills the greatest hunger of mankind."     - Loring A. Schuler It's about that time of year when we reflect on everything that happened or did not happen and take stock of where we might be in relation to our goals, dreams, growth etc. If you're one who makes new year resolutions - and even if you're not - and still have "make a difference" on your list, then you might want to check out Project Drive-By - a non-profit initiative by LifestylzGH and feedForever which aims to spread the love and good cheer this Christmas season. Other sponsors include iStandAbove , TicketGhana.com , REACH Ghana , Heel the World, DailyGuideGhana.com. The project is exactly what its name says: driving by less fortunate areas of Accra to provide a meal or two to an estimated 300-400 people, while sharing some good times and ushering in the new year as one. In the spirit of the season, I couldn't have come up with a better id...

A free urban arts festival, the Chale Wote Street Art Festival could soon be the in-thing on the GH street arts scene. Co-sponsored by ACCRA [dot] ALT , The French Embassy (in Ghana) and Institut Francais, the first edition of the soon-to-be annual international festival will take place on July 16, 2011 in the Jamestown community of downtown Accra from 10am till 10pm. The event is the brainchild of Mantse Aryeequaye (an independent filmmaker) and Dr. Sionne Neely (a researcher and writer); both coordinators of ACCRA [dot] ALT.   In the words of the organizers, its purpose is “to promote the exhibition of alternative art in Ghana and to nurture an appreciation for different kinds of art among Ghanaians.” The first time I read about the Chale Wote Street Art Festival, I thought: interesting name. The second time around during GhanaBlogging ’s July meetup over the weekend, I got a peek at the schedule of events and thought, interesting concept/project!   Now, after some m...

The very thought of having to adapt to the place one calls home is quite bizarre. But that’s exactly what I’m going through right now. Before heading back to Ghana I was both excited and apprehensive. Excited because I’d get to really spend time with family and friends and catch up after all these years. Apprehensive cos, well, I’d been away so long and I’d changed. I wondered whether I would (re)find my place. More scary was the thought of whether other people changing would end up being a good thing or not. Would my friends still be my friends? Would they like who I am now? Would we have the same interests? Do they have space for me in their “new” lives? Just your typical five-year-old –goes-to-school-for-the-first-time kinda questions. The verdict? So far so good. While I haven’t met up with all my friends just yet, I have reinstated contact with a good number of them, and thank heavens, so far there’ve been no first-time-in-ages awkward moments on the phone. We seemed to slip rig...

BarCamp Ghana 2010 BarCamp Ghana 2010 , an ad-hoc gathering where attendees meet for discussions, demos and networking, will take place on December 18 2010 at the Ashesi University campus in Accra. The theme is  “Create dreams, work smart and shape the future”. Following the successes of BarCamp Ghana '08 and BarCamp Ghana '09 , regional BarCamp events were organized in Kumasi , Accra and Takoradi and Barcamp Ghana 2010 will crown the year as the national event. BarCamps all over the world have brought together individuals and organizations to collaborate on various projects and businesses. BarCamp Ghana’10 is a FREE event for anyone who is interested in using their skills, talent, and resources to benefit Ghana and Africa as a whole. This year, the focus is on telling stories and discussing ways of how entrepreneurs and businessmen can create wealth in a burgeoning Accra metropolis faced with a myriad of challenges. Unusually, the pivot of this year’s eve...