Friday, June 20th brought our Global Impact Innovators team to Bo, where 65 entrepreneurs were waiting – our biggest group yet. This session would become a defining moment for one of the most promising entrepreneurship programs in Sierra Leone.
From the beginning, what struck me immediately was the diversity of their journeys. About half were in the idea phase, passionate but uncertain how to start. Another 40% had launched something but were still figuring it out. The remaining 10% were scaling successfully and eager to share lessons.
This mix created incredible energy. Questions flew: “How do you know when to launch?” “What’s the difference between features and benefits?” “How do you scale without losing quality?”
The breakthrough moment
During our value proposition workshop, one entrepreneur developing mobile money for rural communities had been struggling to explain why her service mattered. Through our collaborative exercise, she realized she wasn’t just offering transactions – she was providing financial inclusion and empowerment to people historically excluded from banking.
The shift in her presentation was immediate and powerful.
But something bigger emerged from our three weeks of online sessions building up to this moment. These entrepreneurs weren’t just thinking about their individual businesses anymore – they were envisioning an ecosystem that could lift entire communities.
That’s when inspiration struck.
The energy in that room, the quality of questions, and the obvious hunger for structured learning convinced us that Sierra Leone needed something bigger. From these discussions emerged our vision for a three-tier program:
- The Seed Incubator (3 months): For absolute beginners focusing on digital literacy, idea validation, and business fundamentals.
- The Growth Studio (6 months): For entrepreneurs ready to develop and test their MVPs, with advanced tools and market validation.
- The Scale Catalyst (Ongoing): For investment-ready businesses needing investor connections and governance guidance.
The beautiful part? As we launch new cohorts every few months, we create a continuous pipeline where Seed graduates become Growth participants, who eventually join the Scale network.
Many of these entrepreneurs were encountering structured entrepreneurship programs in Sierra Leone for the very first time.
These 65 entrepreneurs immediately grasped the potential. They saw how this system could transform not just their businesses, but Sierra Leone’s entire entrepreneurial landscape.
With our continued virtual sessions and July bootcamp ahead, this Bo session became the catalyst for something much bigger than any of us initially imagined.
Find out more about our adventures in Sierra Leone at Global Impact Innovators.
