Wrigley and Mars Inspire African Entrepreneurs at Summit Opened by Barack Obama

Wrigley, a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated, has been sharing its experience with local entrepreneurs at the sixth annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), which was opened by U.S. President Barack Obama in Kenya on Sunday.
The event comes just a few months after Wrigley broke ground for a new $63 million manufacturing plant in Kenya, boosting its business in Africa in response to increased demand in the market.
Daniel Omosa, General Manager of Wrigley East Africa, took part in a panel discussion, which focused on how innovation can drive connections with consumers. Wrigley has worked directly with a new generation of African entrepreneurs through its accelerator initiative, the Maua program. Developed in partnership with Mars Catalyst, Maua aims to expand the reach of the Wrigley business by creating a large network of micro-entrepreneurs and micro-distributors.
Daniel Omosa commented: “The GES is a unique opportunity to join together with experts and entrepreneurs to discuss, learn and inspire. It is especially important that the Summit has taken place for the first time in Sub-Saharan Africa, reflecting the growing culture of entrepreneurship we are seeing in Africa and that we committed to supporting.”
An initiative of the US government, the GES offers a platform for budding entrepreneurs to connect with each other, potential investors, international organizations and governments looking to support them. This year, the Government of Kenya, led by the Office of the President and the Ministry of Industrialization and Enterprise Development, hosted the Summit, which attracted more than 1,000 delegates from across the globe.
About the GES
The GES was initiated in 2010 to foster entrepreneurship around the world, when the U.S. hosted the first Summit in Washington, D.C. Since then, the summit has expanded into a global event and has been hosted by the governments of Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Morocco.
About Mars, Incorporated
Mars, Incorporated is a private, family-owned business with more than a century of history and some of the best-loved brands in the world including M&M’S®, PEDIGREE®, DOUBLEMINT® and UNCLE BEN’S®. Headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars has more than $33 billion in sales from six diverse business segments: Petcare, Chocolate, Wrigley, Food, Drinks and Symbioscience. More than 75,000 Associates across 73 countries are united by the company’s Five Principles: Quality, Efficiency, Responsibility, Mutuality and Freedom and strive every day to create relationships with stakeholders that deliver growth we are proud of as a company.
For more information about Mars, Incorporated, please visit www.mars.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.