Jack Ma Takes 38 Billionaire Investors and Entrepreneur Advice To Kenya

Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma, jetted into Nairobi Wednesday evening for a two-day visit. The peak was at the University of Nairobi where he offered Kenyan youth tips on how to build successful business empires.

Billionaires looking for deals

Mr. Ma is the founder and executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba. Also, he is currently Asia’s richest man. Jack Ma’s fortune of nearly $30 billion is nearly half of Kenya’s entire economic output. He goes to Kenya accompanied by a large delegation of super-rich Chinese.

In the entourage is China’s richest billionaires among them Internet tycoon Bob Xu. Also in attendance was Alibaba’s founding partner Lucy Peng, founder, and chairman of Mengniu Dairy Niu Gensheng, and real estate tycoon Huang Youlong.

The 38 men and women, from the Beijing Chamber of Commerce, will be looking to cut multi-billion shilling deals with the government and local businessmen.

Billionaire Jack Ma Word of Wisdom

Ma has challenged young Kenyan entrepreneurs to speed up and grab opportunities under the third revolution of the Internet.

Speaking at the University of Nairobi, Ma said his success story was not based on the achievements of other people but on learning from his failures.

“Learning MBA in universities will not make you successful. We need to be taught how to face our mistakes when in trouble. How we can survive from our failures?” he told a packed audience.

“I am what I am today because I know what people want and what they don’t want. I love to support other people so they can be better than what I am,” he said.

“You must get used to failure for you to make it. Look at boxers…they get used to getting heavy blows that finally motivate them to do better. That is a spirit any business person must put on.”

Ma said a good teacher always wants his students to be better and that there is potential to increase policy research in education and enterprise.