Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Deadline: February 26, 2023
MEST offers a 12-month graduate-level training to aspiring entrepreneurs across the African continent.
The entrepreneurial training program in business, communications and software development includes extensive hands-on project work, culminating in a final pitch and the chance to receive seed investment and grow businesses.
The successful world-class training program is run with the help of an internationally recognized faculty. Our teaching fellows hail from some of the best universities around the world. We also offer our entrepreneurs-in-training (EITs) the opportunity to be mentored by real-life Entrepreneurs, CEOs and other executives from all over the world. Guest lecturers have been executives of Uber, Facebook, Safaricom, Samsung, Interswitch, and many more.
Since its inception in 2008, MEST has invested over $25m in training 1000+ individual entrepreneurs and funded 80+ software companies across Africa. MEST entrepreneurs have developed solutions addressing local, regional and global markets, received follow-on funding from global investors, and gotten into top accelerator programs such as Y Combinator, 500 Startups and TechStars.
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MEST Curriculum
Software Development
- Core Programming Languages
- Scrum & Agile Development
- Web Development
- Mobile Development
- Software Engineering
- UI/UX
Business & Entrepreneurship
- Business Strategy
- Business Modelling
- Marketing
- Market Research
- Sales
- Finance
- Leadership
- Communications
- Lean Startup Methodology
- Pitching & Investor Requirements
- Market Research
- Product Development and Innovation
- Revenue and Business Modeling
- Branding and Communications
- Marketing and Growth Hacking
- Financial Management and Investments
- Legal and Regulatory Compliance
- Metrics and Measurements
- Sales and Traction (achieving product/market fit)
- Building Sustainable Teams
- Preparing for investments
Eligibility Criteria
The Ideal candidate possesses the following:
- A degree from a top university or Technical College or equivalent experience with at least two (2) years of corporate and startup experience (preferred)
- Deep skills in either communications, business or software development (from the onset or acquired during the Pre-Learning stage)
- Young persons passionate about tech and entrepreneurship and how to use technology to achieve business results
- Should be ready to commit to a fully residential program for a whole year
- Disciplined, motivated self-starter who can work and deliver on assignments and projects – demonstrate this by completing the required Pre-Learning courses and MEST’s rigorous recruitment process.
- An entrepreneurial spirit and a strong desire to start a company
- Ability to communicate candidly and persuasively
- Ability to work well in teams, proven academic or professional excellence
- Demonstrated leadership abilities
- Confident and independent thinking
- Excellent people skills
Application Procedure
Complete these pre-learning courses:
Note: On completing your first course on the IBM Digital Nation Africa portal, you will be guided to create an account on youracclaim.com. Once this is done, your badge will be automatically posted to Acclaim. You can grab your profile link by clicking on the profile icon and selecting ‘view profile’.
Kindly note that you must finish these courses, submit your profile link and upload your certificate by the application deadline.
Take an Aptitude Test
You are required to take the Aptitude Test, as your score will be requested when filling out your application form and will determine your move to the next stage. Please follow this link to take the test.
Complete the MEST Training Program Application Form
Please follow this link to sign up to complete the application form.
Application Registration Deadline: 26th February 2023
To Apply: Click here
Official Website: Click here
