You can now access Mara Mentor community through your smartphone, as the Mara Foundation has for the first time successfully launched the Mara Mentor app in Abuja, Nigeria in a bid to enable ambitious entrepreneurs to connect with experienced and inspiring business leaders and online resources.
Established in 2009, Mara Foundation has had its focus on supporting and encouraging entrepreneurs in Africa backed with the drive to be part of the development of thriving SME sectors by supporting African entrepreneurs through mentoring, funding, networking and capacity building. And as a new development, the Mara Mentor that connects entrepreneurs and businesses, was launched in Abuja, Nigeria last week in which the announcement took place during the Democracy Day celebrations, led by His Excellency President Goodluck Jonathan (GCFR) and Ashish J Thakkar, Founder of Mara Group & Mara Foundation.
The Mara Foundation works to create sustainable economic and business development opportunities for young and women entrepreneurs via Mara Mentor, Mara Ad-Venture Fund and Mara Women. Mara Mentor is being launched in 80 countries, noted Thakkar, emphasizing that it’s an African initiative going global, besides impacting more than 72 million youth in his home country Nigeria.
“Almost 80 thousand businesses are benefitting from this and we expect by the end of this year to impact and empower millions of businesses across the country through Mara Mentor,” announced Thakkar, also known as Africa’s youngest billionaire.
In terms of how it works, potential Mara Mentor and mentees log into The Mara Mentor. Mentees can be business owners, entrepreneurs, employees, students or just passionate about business of any age and from any country. Through the app, mentees can view their industry, country and interests and see the mentors’ tips, resources and advice. In addition, they can ask queries and receive personalized advice and even join discussions to see what Mentors are saying as they connect with other Mentees with intriguing business ideas.
The mentors on the other hand, are successful business leaders looking forward for opportunities to give back. The mentors connect with mentees with interesting business ideas, share expertise with followers through personalized advice and posting of videos while host new discussions or give view points.
Mara Mentor’s online platform and mobile app have been developed by Mara Online – Mara’s online and mobile technology business. The app is free of charge to download onto iPhone, Blackberry, Android and limited Nokia smart phones. Nevertheless, mentees without smart phones can continue to access the tool at mentor.mara.com.