From Ideation to Creation: A Focus on Entrepreneurial Growth

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The Aerotropolis Institute Africa (AIA) recently hosted a webinar themed: “Mine Your Mind: From Ideation to Creation-the Art and Science of Building a Business” aimed at aspiring entrepreneurs to guide them in transforming innovative ideas into successful enterprises.

The event was led by a prominent figure in the mining industry, Mr James Campbell, Director of Botswana Diamonds Plc, who shared his expertise not only as a mining expert, but also as an entrepreneur who has built his own successful ventures.

The theme of the event was centred around the essential steps for creating and sustaining a business, using the mining industry as a practical framework for understanding entrepreneurship. Campbell, who has spent decades at the helm of mining companies offered attendees valuable lessons on the intersection of ideation, technology, and business creation.

‘Every business begins with an idea; the ideation process is often reverse-engineered - meaning that the spark for an idea frequently comes from identifying a problem that needs to be solved. An example, currently is the evolution of business ideas in the mining space following technological breakthroughs, such as advances in geophysics, artificial intelligence (AI), or even seismic analysis,’ said Campbell.

His presentation revolved around the concept of business incubators - entities that help young businesses develop by providing mentorship, resources, and networking opportunities, which in the mining industry currently suffers from underrepresentation in certain regions.

‘In my research, I found there to be only three worldwide mining incubators which are the 162 Group, Hunter Dickinson, and the Lundin Group. This shows a gap in local involvement in the mining sector because incubators play a pivotal role in building a business,’ he said.

Campbell further took guests through case studies focusing on businesses, such as the start-up of Swala Resources and shifting focus to how they were formed and progressed to successful business enterprises. 

‘The idea of Swala Resources - a business that specialises in gold exploration, came from a casual conversation about possible epithermal gold mineralisation in Mozambique, which now is two different companies: Meryllion Resources Corporation an exploration company focused on Ionic Adsorption Clay (“IAC”), and Kaizen Discovery which is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company with exploration projects in Peru,’ said Campbell.

Facilitator, Dr Rudi Kimmie, Director at AIA, ended the webinar with a vote of thanks, saying: ‘When we conceptualise information sharing sessions such as this webinar, we aim to encourage individuals to deeply reflect and develop ideas that can bring solutions that potentially could change our economic climate, especially in the times where our country is faced with such a high unemployment rate.’

Words: Ayanda Radebe

Photograph: Supplied