MANZINI – Three entrepreneurs under the JA out-of-school youth programme have been given a jumpstart to develop their businesses. This is after businesses were able to win E10,000 each in a competition by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for entrepreneurs to develop business solutions which promote youth reproductive health.
Speaking during the event, Executive Director of Junior Achievement (JA) Eswatini Phetsile Masilela said, “All these are alumni of the JA programme who began developing their businesses when they were in Form 4. We were now developing those businesses for those alum who haven’t been able to go on to tertiary education. There’s 50 of them and we started with trainings in November, which were refresher trainings since they received the same training in schools. We also had them redo their business plans so that they are ready for whoever can finance them, and also had them undergo a mentorship programme for 6 months.”
“UNFPA is seeking for solutions to problems concerning sexual and reproductive health for the youth. This means that the business solution should play a role in reducing sexually transmitted infections or pregnancies, just name a few”. Masilela also said that they were surprised at how quickly the youth can come up with solutions in this direction.
The participants of the programme have been channeled to pitch their business solutions for funding at the Youth Enterprise Revolving Fund and Fincorp, among other financiers. Some of them have received funding, and JA Eswatini has pledged to continue supporting the rest of the entrepreneurs as they develop their business solutions until they have a significant impact in the country.
