Read time: 3 minutes

Alibaba's Jack Ma arrives in Kenya

By , ITWeb
Kenya , 20 Jul 2017

Alibaba's Jack Ma arrives in Kenya

Find people who can be your boss & not those who are willing to be your servants. That's the way to grow.

This is according to Asia's richest man, founder and executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce Alibaba Group, Jack Ma who has recently arrived in Kenya for a two-day entrepreneurial insights visit.

"I am not here for business but to inspire young African entrepreneurs," he also said, According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)'s Twitter account.

Ma who is set to be delivering a presentation to 500 young business leaders at the University of Nairobi later today is currently trending on Twitter under the hashtag #JackMaInKenya.

In his first trip Kenya, Ma is set to share insights with the country's young entrepreneurs, together with UNCTAD secretary general, Mukhisa Kituy, making presentations to young business leaders at the University of Nairobi.

Ma has been noted for urging developing countries to look to e-commerce to bolster their economies, instead of creating regulations and taxes that could kill the emerging sector in its infancy. "We should not discipline the baby before even it is born," he said at a recent gathering in Geneva during UNCTAD's annual E-Commerce Week convention.

Last year, Ma was named special advisor for youth entrepreneurship by UNCTAD for youth entrepreneurship and small business. Ma is also said to be the richest man in Asia with a fortune valued at nearly US$30 billion (nearly half of Kenya's economic output).

According to Kituyi, Ma will focus on opening markets for small businesses and encouraging the culture of enterprise in Africa. "I have discussed with Jack Ma and others that I would like us not only to grow African enterprises but also to start raising voices that a special market access waiver for produce from Africa, particularly from small business, is needed," he said.

"Effort should be made to encourage young Kenyan entrepreneurs to access the Chinese market just like the Chinese are accessing local markets. Our challenge is not finding agents to import Chinese goods, I am looking for people who are willing to sell African goods to China," he added.

Daily newsletter