Anicet Ateba of Semente Verde and Impact Hub Bissau with Siphiwe Baleka, entrepreneur and Founder, BBHAGSIA

Bissau, Guinea Bissau, April 20 - The Impact Hub Candidate Bissau in partnership and funded by the Mava Foundation and PNUD Guiné-Bissau invited the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem to attend its launch at the National School of Management (ENA). In attendance was Siphiwe Baleka, a successful entrepreneur and founder of the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America.

Siphiwe Baleka is known as “The Fitness Guru to the Trucking Industry” and has appeared in Men’s Health magazine, Sports Illustrated, the Huffington Post, Good Morning America, CBS Evening News, NPR, CNN, NBC Access Daily and BBC. He served as the North American Regional Director of the African Sports Ventures Group as well as the Senior Heritage Ambassador of the United House of Ancestry, In 2020 he launched the Decade of Return Initiative of the Government of Guinea Bissau. Many of his interviews, including the Business Leadership Series: Be an Intentional Leader podcast and The Unstoppable Entrepreneur podcast are available here. Recently, Siphiwe has gained international attention for attempting to represent Guinea Bissau in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and become the oldest swimmer in Olympic History.

”I came to Guinea Bissau to help my ancestral homeland,” said Siphiwe Baleka. “The best way to do that is to invest time and energy into the young people. I am doing that through sports as the Interim President of the Guinea Bissau Swimming Federation and through the Supporting Girls Sports in Guinea Bissau campaign. Now I look forward to helping this generation’s young entrepreneurs throught the Impact Hub.”

“As a young man, I had many great coaches and mentors, both in sports and a few in business. Guidance from those who have already achieved success is invaluable. It takes a special kind of spirit and mindset to be an entrepreneur, to be a champion, and I will do my part to nurture that,” added Baleka.