Tips to make you rich: Africa's top entrepreneurs share secrets to success

Alpesh Patel, CEO and founder of Mi-Fone

Young entrepreneurs should come into the game with some of their own savings, so get some corporate experience in your chosen field and learn how the system works. Save as much as you can from your income, and create some key relationships. Look for the gaps in what big companies are not doing well, and make sure you take advantage of this to create a niche for yourself.

Use social media as much as possible to raise awareness at a low cost, and build your brand every day.

Magatte Wade, CEO and founder of Tiossan

Many Africans are unaware that the "cultural creative" demographic in the U.S. and Europe actively seeks out high-quality products from exotic cultures. With a sophisticated branding strategy that targets this demographic, we can replace the negative connotations of the Africa brand with a positive appeal, and bring the best of African culture into the global marketplace as a prestige brand.

Issam Chleuh, founder of Africa Impact Group

It's important to carefully think through the whole ecosystem and supply chain of your business to make sure you cover all the steps along your way to success. Be mindful of people's promises and double check their work -- your employees, clients and partners. Africa has a laid back culture, and it's important to have control and oversight over all segments of your operations.

However, opportunities are endless -- dare to innovate in Africa, the rewards will make you forget about all the risks.

Heshan de Silva, founder of DSGVenCap

Transplanting what works in the West and the East over here doesn't cut it. You need to innovate locally and address challenges that people face on the ground. Make the start-up relevant to the masses in a way that's accessible, and you're on the right path.

You need good market research. Often we think we're "on to something" when we are not. Make sure you're addressing issues that are really aff

Ashish Thakkar, CEO of Mara Group

You need to be mindful of the fact that Africa is diverse. The biggest problem that those who are new to doing business in Africa face is that they tend to treat it as a homogenous entity, whereas in fact this is a place where you have many different cultures, parliaments, political and regulatory systems -- it's important to understand this. You cannot engage with Africa from a distance -- you need to be able to gain first-hand knowledge of the environment in order to properly know the market.

Patrick E. Ngowi, CEO of Helvetic Solar Contractors

You should start small, with lean operations, and scale up as you go along. I started my solar company being the only employee, going on roof tops to install one solar panel at a time. I made sure every client got value for their investment and, most importantly, was satisfied. Our clients became our ambassadors, especially at a time when there was no budget for marketing.

Jason Njoku, founder of iROKO

You have to be on the ground in Africa. I personally don't believe that you can start a business in Africa if you don't immerse yourself in the market 100%.

You also have to keep speaking to your audience -- don't make assumptions about what you think they want as you might be wrong, especially if you have moved back to Africa after a long spell abroad -- many Western models do not apply to African audiences and consumers. You need to have African solutions to African nuances and challenges.ecting people, not just those you think are affecting them.