By Douglas Ogutu

You have probably heard of this saying: your network is your net-worth. It was a great Day at Deloitte the Place in Nairobi Kenya. The company has a great focus on the development of Africa and has put in strategies to ensure that this is not just a mere dream.

Truth be told, I wouldn't have gotten the invite for Africa Impact Movement Day were it not for the connection from Yali Network. The email which had a deadline of one day helped me look into the books of accounts for my business. Among the qualifications was a demonstration that one has a registered business whose returns can be verified.

The training targeted startups with an aim of equipping the young entrepreneurs on matters Strategic planning. Mr. Alex Murage, one of the facilitators challenged us with this truth:

Millions of people are thinking about the same thing you are planning to do. What matters is the Speed of Excecution. 

There was an emphasis thoughout the day on the need for good time management in order to achieve success. If things seem not to work say because of change in the environment, one has to embrace agility; the ability to innovate and work around the new status quo instead of just giving up.

The TechTeam (known as TAS) served a great eye opener to me specifically on how to leverage on the invaluable IT tools  to ensure security as well as the smooth running of business. The fact that such a successful company has a program to help young people rise up at the right speed speaks volumes on the progress of our continent and it is high time we the youths open our eyes. As stated in our earlier blogs, Dowe Music &Arts is not just about learning musical notes, tones, sentence structure and semantics, we are all about Art4Leadership and that is why we won't let go such opportunities to help spread the word that Africa is indeed on the right course.

As it is with farmers, I never imagine leaving my tools of trade. It was an honor giving an ice breaker of a violin tune before the afternoon session. I am greatful to the Mc of the day, Ms. Halima. This was a great opportunity to meet with Yali Alumni from other cohorts such as Nicodemus cH16, Kevins cH11 (MWF2017) and Lydiah cH1( TAS facilitator), Malik cH27 as well as James Kinuthia from cH28.

Thank you for reading and I hope this inspires you to have a great view of Africa that you have always had.

James Kinuthia (Left) from Cohort 28

Douglas Ogutu is the founding director of Dowe Music & Arts and the frontier of Art4Leadership initiative