NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

The event is planned as a hybrid with most sessions taking place virtually and some programs taking place in-person in Harare.

This global event  is to introduce the collective efforts of Yunus Organizations – Yunus Centre, Grameen Creative Lab, Yunus Social Business, Yunus Environmental Hub, Friends of Social Business – to build on the work that has been going on under the holistic East Africa Social Business project through Yunus + You – The YY Foundation, and to mobilize young people and young entrepreneurs in the region  to connect, interact, come up with entrepreneurial solutions about issues that they care about most. Yunus Sports Hub, Glasgow Caledonian University’s Yunus Centre, YY Ventures, and MakeSense will also support the Forum.

These topics would be clustered around the theme creating a world of three zeros that Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus has been advocating —- Zero Net Carbon Emissions, Zero Wealth Concentration for Ending Poverty, Zero Unemployment but would encompass and include other topics that matter to the young generation of Africa.

The presence and sharing of experience of social business entrepreneurs, practitioners and academicians will inspire the audience and help mobilize young people to stand up to make a difference. It will take place throughout two days: on 10 April 2021 from 9.15 to 17.00 and on 11 April from 8.15 to 17.00 Harare time.

The most critical and impactful topics that can shape the regions of East Africa in the current pandemic and post pandemic world will be discussed. Topics will include the potential of social business and microfinance in East Africa, youth empowerment in social and environmental causes, the power of sports to solve social problems, social business to combat climate crisis and environmental issues, designing healthcare delivery  for East Africa, and many more topics.