The Sunday News
Wilson Dakwa, Business Reporter
FINANCIAL institution CBZ Holdings Limited has managed to identify 20 entrepreneurs who will compete for the ultimate prize of $10 000 in this year’s Youth Entrepreneurs Programme (YEP) edition.
CBZ group executive marketing and corporate affairs Mrs Laura Gwatiringa said the financial institution had identified the 20 participants from the southern and northern regions of the country.
She said the 20 are at the implementation and assessment of seed capital usage stage.
“We would like to congratulate our selected top 20 participants for YEP 2017/18. We have managed to have top 10 participants from the southern region and another 10 from the northern region. The top 20 will each receive US$250. Our concept involves testing how responsible the young entrepreneurs are if given small amounts and also assess how innovative they will be in deploying this injection into their businesses. They will then be assessed after a month to determine who will become the provincial winner,” said Mrs Gwatiringa.
In 2016, CBZ partnered Empowered Life Trust, a non-profit making organisation to establish YEP.
YEP is a practical and results-based initiative to produce growth-oriented (not survivalist) profitable businesses that are run professionally by youths aged between 18 and 30 from all the country’s 10 provinces.
YEP graduates are required to professionally run profitable businesses within a period of 90 days. The first phase of the programme involves visits to all 10 provinces to deliver public “Introduction to Entrepreneurship” workshops for the youth.
From the attendants, 10 participants from each of the 10 provinces are selected to go to the next round where selection is based on performance and responsiveness to the given assignments. After further training and assessment, two participants per province are selected to proceed to the final level of the programme.
The finalists each receive seed capital to use in their small businesses and based on how they perform; the top 10 will be awarded prize money. Terms and conditions relating to the prize money will restrict the usage of the money to business use.
Mrs Gwatiringa said over 1 000 people had applied for funding, adding that for this edition, the ultimate winner will get US$10 000, first runner-up US$7 000, second runner-up US$5 000 and seven other provincial winners US$800 each.
Some of the projects include scrap metal smelting, juice manufacturing, eco-tourism, events management, cereal manufacturing, mushroom production, floor polish manufacturing, banana flour production and ice cream manufacturing.
She said the programme was piloted in two rural centres, Gutu in Masvingo and Umzingwane in Matebeleland South province and teams from these rural centres are participating as co-operatives. -@WilsonDakwa1
