Our story
The African Enterprise Institute (AfEI) is a strategic corporate institution designed to implement the strategies and initiatives of the African Enterprise Initiative founded by Dr Nicky Okoye and promoted by the Nicky Okoye Foundation. The African Enterprise Initiative is designed to provide the capacity, to stimulate drive, and to expand the opportunities for enterprises owned and operated by people of African descent, seeking to expand their business reach continentally and globally. The African Enterprise Institute supports executives, entrepreneurs and their management teams with strategic access to continental & global markets, access to funding, access to global skills and access to investment capital on a sustainable basis.
The African Enterprise Institute (AfEI) is registered and head quartered in Washington DC, United States, from where we build strong collations and support enterprise development through initiatives, edtech platforms and interventions. Our institute is focused on building the capacity of business executives and entrepreneurs of African descent, expanding their ability to penetrate global markets. The AfEI also supports Nations, Regional & State authorities, Institutions, Conglomerates and Entrepreneurs with strategic business & enterprise development, expansion, investment and global market penetration strategies.
The African Enterprise Initiative is designed to be a launch pad for the creation of new jobs and for the support of micro, small and medium scale enterprises. The Federal Government of Nigeria, through it’s Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, has adopted the African Enterprise Initiative, having signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nicky Okoye Foundation for the implementation of the African Enterprise Initiative in Nigeria.
African Enterprise Initiative has twelve pillars and interventions which are designed to support the development of Entrepreneurship in any Nation it is deployed, especially for Nigeria. The African Enterprise Initiative is one of the most comprehensive strategies for enterprise development in Africa, its pillars and programs are funded by a wide range of partners, investors, stakeholders and philanthropists using innovative capital aggregation strategies, tools and platforms.
The structure for aggregation and mobilization of investment capital for African Enterprises using 21st century business models and focused on five strategic industries which include the Creative Industry, Agriculture, Services, Energy and Technology.
Entrepreneurs and businesses that are in early stage formation or who have less than 4 years of operating experience are engaged at our week long certification boot camp which is designed to support businesses with the skills they need to scale up their operations to global competitors competitive arrangement.
The innovation Campus is designed to be a work hub innovation environment and co-work space that will provide affordable business premises to one thousand entrepreneurship ventures in their early stage of business development.
This is the aspect of the AEI that focuses on guiding selected and specific small and medium businesses to grow from local or regions businesses into continental and in some cases global corporations over a five year period.
The grassroots enterprise development strategy for the sustainable birthing of new enterprises and long term support structures.
The aggregation of accelerator programs and skills centers using the AfEI standardized formats for enterprise development, acceleration, talent recruitment and funding. Hosting accelerator and business hub programs at the grass root level.
The focus of the Institute includes building a community of verified micro, small and medium enterprises using Nicky Okoye Foundation’s Business Excellence Matrix (NOBEM).
A host of digital 21st century technology and communication platforms and systems which are designed and best suited for the current digital youth population.
The course is a comprehensive thirteen module personal and professional development strategy intervention that deals directly with all the areas of leadership, business development, market penetration and operational excellence as required by entrepreneurs and small businesses in the Nigerian marketplace.
The StartUP Nigeria Workshop series material is sub divided into two board deliverables, the first one is focused on the strategic bundle of courses for entrepreneurs who need direction on business planning, business modelling, regulatory compliance, marketing, sales, taxes, operational efficiency and customer service. Whereas the second bundle is focused on certifying public sector officials and financial officers that have been designated as the MSME expert at their government agency or financial institution.
The MSME ecosystem includes certifying the State regulators and development officials for “Enterprise Development Strategy” dynamics.
The Project Triple E is a special program of the AfEI which is targeted strategically at youth and women support in three areas that they require assistance.

