ENTERPRISE54 – Mara Foundation – a social enterprise that encourages and supports young entrepreneurs in Africa owned and run by young Ugandan multi-millionaire businessman Ashish J. Thakkar, has in Ghana launched Mara Mentor an African multi-lingual online portal and mobile App for youth mentorship and entrepreneurship.

Mara Mentor, which is runs on web and mobile platforms, links startup African entrepreneurs with successful and established African business leaders for advice and mentorship. It is designed to enable entrepreneurs to build their networks and access the guidance that they need at the early stages of their business development.

At the formal launch of the app which took place in Flag Staff House Ghana, Ghanaian President John Mahama noted that “I am so happy to be part of this program because I believe the mentorship of Mara would inspire and encourage more young people of this country to enter into job creation.”

Ghana has a growing youth population that has doubled in recent times. Research findings on the reasons some startup nosedive or fail to even launch, has been zeroed down to lack of proper mentoring. Hence, the desire to bridge the gap with a technology that provides such resource – Mara Mentor app.

There is a gradual shift in policies of governments across the globe from creation of jobs to facilitation of enabling environment and policies that aid private individuals to create jobs. And without proper mentoring from tested entrepreneurs and not just textbook theories, such goal could remain a mirage.

Mara Chief Executive, Ashish J. Thakkar currently in his early thirties, started business as a teenager dealing on computers and grew it into what is now know today as the Mara Group a Pan-African conglomerate which has over 11,000 employees in over 22 countries.