Startup AfroFinns – Activating the Afro-Finnish Community in Finland from Tampere

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Startup Afrofinns is a (Tampere based) project under the Afrofinns association. The association has dedicated itself to encouraging and supporting the Afro-Finnish community by celebrating their achievement, encouraging positive identity and more critically engaging in the space of business.

Startup Afrofinns was thus founded to address the entrepreneurship goal of the association. The aim is to encourage more members of the Afrofinns community to leverage their education, experience, talents, skills and networks to create businesses that encourage self-reliance through self-employment.
In discussion over the state of Afro- Entrepreneurship in Finland with Afrofinns Chairman Elvis Fuamba, we bring an understanding of what Start-Up Afro-Finns does to promote a robust business culture from an afro-centric perspective of the Finnish landscape.

Information is Everything

With an aim of increasing entrepreneurship within this community, the project works to bridge the divide, with hands on advice and a series of startup meetups. By condensing the information that may often appear too threatening to potential entrepreneurs and by providing an experience exchange, there is an opportunity to encourage further interaction with the idea of self-reliance through self-employment. The mental shift to a pro-active entrepreneur community is one the project endeavors to achieve.In addition, through this space, we offer guidance on the frequently asked questions including funding and procedural questions and share networks that may support the development of an idea or concept to the realization of the business. Startup Afrofinns believes that in providing the tools, we can better motivate people to try.

Networking

An integral part of growing a business and being part of a business is networking. The project exposes participants to different ideas and people. Further, encouraging people to talk during the meet-up events is a common phenomenon; where we hope, spurring conversations will lead to good contacts and good business relationships that may serve for an idea either presently or in the future. It is in the end, essential to find compatibility and shared vision in the formation of a start-up and the start-up meetups are events created to fit this need.
As a project, Startup AfroFinns develops networks with various stakeholders. Some of our key contacts have been Business Tampere who have provided collaborative support that has been critical in advancing our agenda, they also share information which we further share with our members. In addition, Tribe Tampere has provided space for our meet-ups, truly supporting the objectives of both and the project and the association at large. We continue to expand our contacts for the benefit of our members.

Promoting International Talents from the Afro community in Finland

Startup AfroFinns believes in the competencies, skills and talents in the Afro community in Tampere and Finland in general. As such, in addition to encouraging independence through entrepreneurship, the project works to strategically develop ways to promote Afro-Finnish absorption in the labor market at various levels. The project actively observes the labor landscape and aims through understanding its’ nuances, to promote/create better means of engagement with stakeholders in the sector. Through leveraging afore mentioned networks, in particular, co-operation with Business Tampere the project is excited and committed to developing synergies that serve members of this community better and ultimately play our part in achieving internationalization particularly in Tampere and Finland in general.

Persistence is Key

In closing and drawing from his own experience, Elvis highlights the need to be stubborn, to break barriers and ultimately achieve your goals. We support this process by providing real cases for the community to learn from, understanding myth from reality and further understanding the risks in business, the aim here is to encourage a mental shift that is resilient to follow through. We encourage our members that like any other success this one too requires hard work, commitment and resilience.

by Njoki Githieya, Afrofinns ry

Start Up Afrofinns Contact info
Website: https://startupafrofinns.com/
email us at: contact@afrofinns.com
Call us at: 0442766649