The African collaboration that’s transforming lives and businesses
In the heart of Lesotho, Katleho Mojakisane’s journey began with a personal tragedy. A traumatic robbery involving her family left a lasting mark, driving her to make a difference in her community.
Out of this painful experience, her organisation Youth on the Rise was born, aimed at addressing the root causes of crime and socioeconomic challenges young people face in Lesotho.
In an interview with Global South World, Katleho shared how, through mentorship programmes, sports events, and collaborations with local and juvenile rehabilitation centres, she works to uplift young girls and boys from underprivileged backgrounds.
Her dedication has not gone unnoticed. In 2023, Katleho’s work earned her a prestigious honour from the Future Africa Leaders Foundation, an initiative led by Rev. Chris Oyakhilome DSc, DSc, DD.
Along with her colleague, Clinton Arko Agyemang, founder of Megascope Ghana, she was awarded the Future African Leaders Award, a recognition that opened doors for even greater impact.
“So Clinton and I met through the Future Africa Leaders Foundation, which is a foundation started by the man of God, Pastor Chris Oyakilomi, PhD, and he started this foundation with an aim of empowering young African leaders,” Katleho shared.
"And from there, we saw that it would be a great idea if we as African leaders would collaborate in initiatives and would partner with each other to enhance any initiatives that we do," she added.
Their collaboration led to the creation of the Ghana Central Expo 2024, a project designed to promote local entrepreneurship and youth development. At the heart of the Expo is the goal to raise awareness about the importance of investing in local businesses and providing essential health services to those in need.
"We're giving a platform to actually raise awareness about the importance of investing in local entrepreneurs and we've been able to also introduce elements such as free health screening for the residents and the participants of the expo. This is to give free health services to people who may not afford them," Katleho explained the idea behind the Expo.
The event has already made a substantial impact, drawing over 300 exhibitors and more than 10,000 visitors. In Africa, the informal sector is a large part of employment. According to the International Labour Organisation, over 66% of total employment in Sub-Saharan Africa is within this informal sector.
"We had CEOs of several industries present. The Catholic bishop and archbishops were all present. We had the municipal assemblies and of the metropolitan assemblies were all present," Clinton shared during the interview. "It was such a great, great event seeing all of these huge personalities at this particular expo."
Looking to the future, Katleho and Clinton aim to expand their efforts by building international partnerships. Clinton highlighted their vision: “We are also engaging more of the businesses because we want to form something called Africa China Consortium. We also want to form other consortiums with international bodies to improve the Ghanaian people and entrepreneurs, boosting them to become global entrepreneurs."
Watch full interview here:
