Africa Rising: Evelyn Odonkor Reflects on the Recent ABERS Conference

In December 2011 The Economist published a piece titled ‘The Hopeful Continent’ with the subheading: “After decades of slow growth, Africa has a real chance to follow in the footsteps of Asia.” The article caught the eye of Professor Evelyn Odonkor, who vividly remembered another piece by the same title a decade earlier more starkly called “Hopeless Continent.” A co-organizer of the recent 2024 ABERS Conference, Odonkor explained that the theme of ‘Africa Rising’ echoes that wider shift, highlighting the fact that much of the continent is experiencing remarkable social and economic development and signaling hope for the areas still challenged by unrest.

The African Business and Entrepreneurship Research Society (ABERS) is an international scholarly society dedicated to the understanding and advancement of business and entrepreneurship in Africa. Odonkor herself first attended back in 2016 thanks to an all-faculty email by then AUP Provost Scott Springer who forwarded the call for papers. By the next year, she had joined the ABERS executive board and hasn’t looked back.

With this 13th edition of the ABERS conference that came to campus in May, the organizers sought to ask how we as individuals and organizations can contribute to fostering sustainable development, innovation, and inclusive growth in Africa. “These were the underlying questions in the panel discussions, research and projects that were presented during the conference,” explains Odonkor, who called the conference a success, as demonstrated by the sessions going over time and having to be brought to a close because participants were too involved in the discussions.

Conversations focused on the next generation of entrepreneurs, educating our youth, financing entrepreneurship, and the role of technology in the development of the continent. Another key strand for Odonkor was the need to put more emphasis on education to help foster positive change, enlightening youth on both achievements and challenges in their history and culture. Understanding that past is vital “so we can come up with suitable strategies to develop our countries and the continent as a result, instead of merely copying the development strategies or political systems of other nations… Appreciation and pride in African heritage will encourage us to make the sacrifices and commitments necessary to bring about sustainable development and inclusive growth on the continent.”

A personal highlight of the event was the keynote speech by Her Excellency Anna Bossman, Ambassador of Ghana; a vibrant mix of brilliant storytelling and the remarkable advancements in the country which took Odonkor back to her own childhood. “Only one home in my entire neighborhood had a telephone,” she recalled. “In that era if someone from abroad needed to get a hold of a family member, they would call this one house, and ask whoever answered the phone to please go and tell their relation to come wait by the phone at a specific day and time.” It seems laughable now, but Odonkor reminds us “people got around fine” and admits “as much as I’m thrilled by the advances on the continent…I’m worried about us losing the sense of community and sharing that was necessary for survival in the past. I am multilingual because of this interaction with my neighbors.”

Also at the conference was Her Excellency Doreen Amule (Ambassador of Uganda) who participated in a discussion on business development that highlighted the various projects that AUP professors, including Odonkor, Linda Martz, Tanya Elder and Waddick Doyle, are involved with in Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Uganda, Senegal and Mali.

For Odonkor, events like ABERS are unique opportunities to bring the community together. But it also mirrors a very personal goal focused on mentorship for the next generation, something she is pursuing through the Mamle Odonkor Foundation. “My goal is to identify and mentor youth in need, from early education through university, and to help them find a job in their field of study,” she said. “I want to do more for the future generation. In the past 20 years, I have spent more time in the classroom and in conferences than on the field. I feel the time has come to do the reverse.”