My name is Emeka & I am an Entrepreneur
My name is Chukwuemeka and I am an Entrepreneur-in-training (EIT) AT Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST).
For the next one year when anybody asks me who I am, that should be the first thing I say.
For the next one year, when anybody asks me who I am, this will be the first thing I say.
You are probably thinking, ; “what is an EIT? What is MEST?”. (For the uninitiated,) I am sure you are wondering, “what does it mean? And how did you get to become one.?”
MEST is a Post Graduate level school in Accra, Ghana, where every year, 60 young people from across Africa (12 countries this year) are selected to be part of an all-expenses paid year of intensive training centered on one thing only; building a globally recognised African technology company.
This may sound very straight forward, however, the devil is in the details. Turns out it takes more than a formal education to build a successful business in Africa. There are the tangibles that have been discussed ad nauseam in all sorts of forums. But there are also so many intangible qualities that successful entrepreneurs must have in order to build and scale companies that have impact, and that’s what MEST is all about.
I have been here less than 2 months and it’s already one of the most intensive experiences I have had to undergo This is the hardest educational institutionl I have ever attended. There i’s no grading or scoring system. You are responsible for your own progress, with the help of the teaching fellows and faculty who provide as much guidance and help as they can.Ultimately, the responsibility for going back to make use of the materials and improve yourself is on you.
Students here are called EIT’s which means Entrepreneur-in-training. There is speculation that it’s easier to get into Harvard than to become an EIT at MEST as, the acceptance rate for MEST is way lower than that at Harvard. Regardless, of your experience before arriving at MEST, the experience will prove to be a challenging one and is not a program is not for the faint hearted. It will take you, beat and mould you into the finest possible version of yourself, not unlike what fire does to gold.
The day you get into MEST is the first day of the rest of your life., Despite what may happen during the year, you will never be the same again. Everything here is geared towards making sure the EIT’s have the best possible experience and are able to gain as much from the program as possible. The atmosphere is one of collaboration, cooperation and goodwill. It is all done under an atmosphere of Generosity, Positivity and Standards (GPS) which happens to be the MEST pillars. Every MESTer is required to conform to those values. It is interesting to see how the values are inculcated in everyone from the managing director to other members of the community.
The MEST Community might be the most multicultural one on the African continent with people from as much as 20 countries both within and outside Africa making up the core of the student and staff body. Within four days of arriving at MEST, all my stereotypes about various African countries have been dispelled to the point where I have decided to drop all stereotypes till I actually meet someone from theses countries.
Even though we are all from extremely diverse backgrounds as EITs, we have managed to develop a strong bond between us that when an EIT from Kenya was injured, every single person stepped up to make sure her stay in the hospital was as hitch free as possible.
We don’t think of ourselves as Kenyans, Nigerians, Ghanaians, or Somalis. All those labels have made way for us to see each other as one. The day after our colleague had an accident, in the midst of the shock and sadness, an EIT from Nigeria said something which I found quite profound; “We have to take care of each other because we are all we have right now”.
The community spirit at MEST is infectious and I cannot help but gravitate towards the people here.
I would encourage anyone with a drive for techpreneurship to apply to be part of the next cohort.
