By Winston Muleba Jr
Opportunities are being
hatched. But the real question is what are we as Zambian youths doing? Are we
going to be active participants in the growth and development of our country or
are we going to be satisfied with being spectators? As youths, we need to take
advantage of the opportunities, create sustainable development and wealth. We
need to lead the way and invest in massively in Zambia. The Citizens Economic
Empowerment Commission (CEEC) is a body corporate established through the
enactment of the Citizens Economic Empowerment Act No. 9 of 2006 to foster broad based economic empowerment. Broad-based economic empowerment is defined in
the Act as ‘the economic empowerment of targeted citizens especially youths.
Without a vision and passion, among other factors, setting up a company was
going to be difficult for Monica Musonda.
A Vision is about what
you want to be. It can't be something that doesn't have strong contours or is a
mirage. A vision has got to be clear. You can see it out there. But I think
before you show people where to go, you've got to show them where they are and
where they've been. I think you need to start working on your plans and find
out what you should start with, what you should go through, what kind of
culture you should bred into the plan and where you stand today. You're going
to work with people some day when you implement your plans hence I think you
can create a vision in your business in this way.The people you intend to work
with must understand the economic realities of your business. I think until you
accept those realities it's very hard to create a good vision for the future.
Another African
business executive who has pursued a vision so passionately is a Congo based
musician, Kofi Olomide .He grew up in fairly comfortable surroundings, but
there were no musicians in his family. He used to have fun working on familiar,
popular tunes giving them his own lyrics, changing the rhythms. A neighbor of
his realized that he possessed a true talent and encouraged by teaching him the
guitar. Kofi Olomide was a skillful student and passed a scientific
baccalaureate. Following his diploma his father sent him to France to study
Business Administration at the Bordeaux Business University. At the age of 18,
despite his success as a brilliant student as a young man Kofi was still very
attracted to arts and music in particular, showing a gift for song writing and
singing. Olomide possesses a first degree in Business Economics and reportedly
has a Master’s Degree in mathematics from the University of Paris, but he found
mainstream fame and considerable fortune playing music.
During the 70's he
began to build a reputation amongst the Zairean community as a songwriter.
'Onia' was his first success. In 1977 Kofi's brother encouraged him to record
his first songs. During his holidays, he recorded 'Asso' and 'Princesse YaSenza'
-a homage to women- at the Veve studios in Kinshasha, from then on, he
collaborated with artists such as Papa Wemba and ZaikoLanga Langa. Koffi was
awarded the title of 'Best Zaire artist in the year 1978 for the single 'Aniba'
.1983 was a turning point in Kofi's career, he recorded his first album
'Ngouda' and showed a strong determination in becoming a main force in African
Music. Two duets were performed and recorded with Yakimi Kiesse and Fafa from
Molokai. In 1986 he started his first
real group called 'Quartier Latin'. At the same time he was heavily impressed
and influenced by the groups such as Kassav. After 10 years of success he also
decided that he wished his career to take a more international turn. It is so
amazing to note that Olomide is very learned but then he is so inclined to
music because of the vision and passion he’s got for the music industry.
Their commitment is
almost contagious; as such entrepreneurial drive requires a vision and passion,
Koffi Olomide and Monica Musonda, dedicated and concentrated efforts which came
naturally after having engaged themselves in doing what they love to do. Their aim therefore have been neither success
nor riches, but the pursuit of something in which they are genuinely
interested, therefore, If you aren't passionate about your ideas, you'll fail
every time. It's for this reason that it
is not advisable to assign people to an innovation project. It is instead advisable to give chance to
people who can volunteers - even if they aren't the "right" people,
if they believe in the opportunity and are fully engaged in finding a new or
better way, or new or better product or service. People who are "assigned" to
innovation rarely have the passion necessary to fight the battles that are
required when implementing radical change. If you have the vision necessary to
be successful, and you are passionate about the idea or solution, you have all
the key ingredients to be successful.
However, you can have all the innovation tools and techniques on the
planet, you can quiz your customers and use "open innovation", you
can implement all the idea management software in the world, but if you don't
have good vision and high passion for the problem or solution, it will all go
for naught.
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