Entrepreneur Organisation sets up regional office in Nairobi

The founder of Entrepreneurs Organisation of East Africa, Sriram Bharatam. PHOTO | FILE 

By ANNIE NJANJA

The East African chapter of Entrepreneur Organisation (EO), a network for investors, will officially open a regional headquarters in Nairobi on January 6, as it seeks to grow membership of the all-exclusive club.

The recruitment drive for new members in the East African chapter will start in the third week of January and will be carried in Nairobi, Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Durban and Accra.

Sriram Bharatam, the founding president of EO East Africa and a renowned serial entrepreneur, said the network is set to bring investors to a single platform where they meet regularly to share experiences and draw lessons from each other.

The organisation offers resources in the form of events, leadership-development programmes, an online entrepreneur forum and business owner education opportunities, designed to propel businesses to greater heights.

“Being in a network facilitates sharing of ideas and information. Joint ventures and franchise models can only be realised when like-minded individuals have a platform where they can discuss on emerging markets and strike business deals,” said Mr Bharatam.

“This is a safety net for entrepreneurs,” he added.

Additionally, an accelerator programme that will see budding entrepreneurs with annual revenues of below Sh90 million go through mentorship programmes conducted by EO members will be established in the coming year.

Established in August 2013, the East Africa division has so far attracted 43 members whose businesses meet the threshold of annual revenues of Sh90 million ($1 million).

The members from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi, employ 30,000 people and have collective revenues of Sh100 billion.

EO, which was founded in 1987, has more than 250 members in Africa while the global membership count stands at 11,000.

It has a presence in 42 countries and is arguably the world’s most influential entrepreneur community.

Its members have a total annual turnover of more than Sh45 trillion.

Each member of the East Africa chapter will incur a cost of Sh216,000 ($3,500) every year in forums, events and training.