Empower Africa was founded by Ezi Rapaport in 2018 out of the vital need to create significant international awareness and impact during a unique window of opportunity to uplift Sierra Leone. Since then, the company has grown and evolved.
CT: can you introduce yourself and briefly tell us about Empower Africa?
Rapaport
Yes! I am Ezi Rapaport an Israeli, the founder and CEO of empower Africa, and we are a value driven business and business network with approximately 25,000 members. Some of the leading businesses on the continent and leading investors form a network part of our community. We focus on promoting investment in Africa and specifically Sierra Leone and we are building a more robust private sector.
The mission statement of the company is to accelerate empowerment by driving investment trade and job creation. There are tremendous need and value to trade prosperity through good value driven businesses in the larger private sector.
CT: would you mind explaining what Empower Africa is doing?
Rapoport: Ok! First of all the first thing we are doing on the media front is highlighting all the successes that is taking place in the continent and how we change the narrative and create awareness on the positive that is taking place specifically in the business communities. The first thing we are doing is highlighting the most successful and the most inspiring business leaders that are doing good and succeeding.
The second thing we are doing is highlighting opportunities for companies that are raising capital, looking for trading partners. So we are building a business community and business network (online) were we connect global strategy by connecting all business leaders on the continent on an online platform of empower Africa.
We also connect online using local strategy by connecting all the business leaders on the continent on our online platform of empower Africa; a network with a huge membership. Having a local strategy in bringing businesses together on the local market is what the business centre is about.
One of the thing we see missing is lack of social capital and network value; somebody could have a solution but doesn’t have the distribution, somebody could have a capital but doesn’t know the success of a business operation, so that value we believe, will create a lot more network value in the country.
CT: Just out of curiosity, why did you chose Sierra Leone as your base?
Rapaport: I am just someone who is seeking to follow his values and the mission and purpose that I feel that I meant to fulfill. The reason that I am here in Sierra Leone is because of the work that my father, Martin Rapaport did over twenty years ago. He played a very influential role in stopping the funding that get to the rebels movement through the diamond industry. My father was creating a lot of awareness globally, awareness on the dire conditions here in Sierra Leone and how diamonds were funding the war. He also introduced the Clean Diamond Act in US Congress. That was the first regulation on the diamond industry which stipulates that no diamond should come to America if you don’t know where they are coming from. Before that the diamond were funding conflict and nobody cares.
It was as result of my father’s intervention that I came to Sierra Leone to assist the government to sell the ‘Peace Diamond’ found by Pastor Emmanuel Momoh in 2017 in Kono. The Rapaport Group, which include myself, my father and the company helped the Government free of charge to a global tour to auctioned the diamond on condition that the sales be done on transparency and the village were the diamond came from receives the benefit.
After the diamond was sold in December 2017, not much happened in the village and when President Bio came to power I told him we have put our brand and reputation on the ‘Peace Diamond’ which the buyer paid more money because the government promised beneficiation to the village but nothing happened after the sale.
So that was why after the peaceful transition of powers I went and saw the village and promised myself that I can do all I can to make sure that the promised to the village was fulfilled after which I met President in the first week of his office.
So had a meeting with President Bio where I introduced myself to him and explained to him about diamond and the promised made to the village where it was found. I canvass him to pay attention to the village and president does exactly what was expected of him.
CT: What are some of your activities here in Sierra Leone?
Rapaport: We have done two trade missions, one to address and support the artisanal mining sector which my father led. He brought 25 leaders within the diamond industry who came and created a more fair trade and promote the artisanal mining sector. The second mission we lead was the agricultural trade mission through which we brought some of the leading agriculture companies from around the world to Sierra Leone and that happened few months before Covid-19.
We have done over 70 events around the world where we highlighted Sierra Leone. We even supported an event at Harvard University where both the Minister of Education, David Sengeh and I are alumni of, and the United States Embassy supported the government released their mid-term development plan in front of many investor at Harvard.
It was very good to see Sierra Leone under Harvard platform which is a very prestigious platform. I was proud to see Sierra Leone promoted in such platform which is very respectful and encouraging for the country. We also did event in New York during the UNGA and in London where various ministers spoke about Sierra Leone Development trajectory and other programs were done online because of the pervasiveness of Covid-19.
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CT: So what next?
Rapoport: Now that Covid-19 is fading slowly. One of the things that we learn during Covid-19 is how valuable physical interaction is and one cannot replace that with the virtual, despite its importance. Because of the importance of physical interaction, we opened up empower Africa few months ago and it is the first business that we have in Africa and it is the proof of Concept (POC) for Empower Africa. Once we succeed here in Sierra Leone, we are going to open them around many or all other cities in Africa and across the world.
We have our members all over Africa but we are going to focus and nurture our business here before moving to other countries in Africa.
He said African values are within its people. The talents in people are more valuable than the minerals and natural resources they mine, but many people around the world are ignorant about that and those who know lack the technicalities to address it.
That is why we are creating the awareness to change the narratives so that people can be able to unleash their unrealized values and potential that will be useful to the world.
Unfortunately a lot of media get the attention by highlighting the extreme negative that creates fire in the minds of people.
They media should be able to come in to have a constructive dialogue by highlighting the issues on how people are succeeding, the challenges, the problems and the way forward for more businesses to come in and for the current existence business to further succeed.
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