Day: March 15, 2024

WINDHOEK: Namibia is rapidly becoming the leading light of the Empretec Programme, a capacity building initiative specially designed to encourage entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses. The Empretec Namibia Programme was first launched in 2019 as a partnership between the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The programme aims to promote entrepreneurship as an essential component of economic growth and development in Namibia. Empretec has been proving its positive impact for over 30 years since it was first launched in Argentina by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Since it was first piloted in Namibia in 2019, close to 2 000 entrepreneurs have graduated from the programme. Last year, 1 400 entrepreneurs completed the training, while 90 were the first to graduate in 2019. Henry Kisting, one of Empretec Namibia's alumni, said the programme gave him special skills that allowed him to run his upholstery business in Windhoek. 'I can say the programme really helped me a lot in the sense that it opened my eyes to things like how to plan, aggressive marketing, and how to look for business opportunities. To be honest, I was lacking in many areas of running a business,' Kisting said, while encouraging other aspiring entrepreneurs to take part in the programme. Elina Emvula, who operates a decoration business at Grootfontein, also had good things to say about the programme. She said her participation in the programme in 2019 gave her a boost to run her small business, which manufactures a range of wood furniture, kitchenware, and wall decor. 'It really boosted my skills to run my business. When I started, I did not really know what I was doing. Even up to now, I still have my notes from the workshop, and at times when I get stuck, I still go back to my notes to boost myself,' said Emvula, who also recently opened a restaurant in Grootfontein. The 2024 edition of the Empretec programme was launched in Windhoek recently, and the launch coincided with the first entrepreneurial training that began on 04 March and was attended by 30 entrepreneurs. During the six-day workshop, participants were exposed to behavioural entrepreneurial competencies that are associated with successful entrepreneurs worldwide. The CEO of Empretec Ghana Foundation, Dunwell Eku, who also conducted the workshop, noted that the programmes are unique from other entrepreneurial training programmes. Eku emphasised that the programme takes a behavioural approach to entrepreneurship, and that it is more practical, interactive, and experience-based. 'Over the years, I am aware that governments have invested in a number of funded training programmes that focus on learning some financial and management skills, and I am aware that in some countries, government funding is as much as 90 per cent of start-up capital, and it did not work,' Eku said. 'So this workshop is about getting entrepreneurs to understand that there is something within them, and if they bri ng it out and practice it, it can become a part of them. They can apply it in all situations that confront them.' Romanus Haironga, one of the 30 participants who finished training last week, expressed gratitude to the Empretec Programme for helping him gain new insights into managing a business. The aspiring entrepreneur from Kavango West said he is venturing into small and medium businesses training and coaching in his region. He said the workshop was about changing the mindset of entrepreneurs, which he said is the biggest challenge for business owners. 'The biggest challenge is our mindset, and we need to change that. For example, I learned that you can start a business without money, but our mindset is that you need a lot of money to start a business, that the government is not giving us capital, and so forth. Therefore, the approach of the Empretec programme is changing that mindset, that entrepreneurs can even start with little money,' Muronga said. Industrialisation and Trade Minister, Lucia Iipum bu, who launched this year's programme, said that Empretec Namibia seeks to train local micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and larger enterprises into appropriate entrepreneurial behaviour, to ensure that they can create sustainable businesses. In partnership with Empretec Ghana, the minister said they aim to train up to 180 trainees this year. 'We also aim to work with both UNDP and UNCTAD to ensure that Empretec Namibia is certified as a global centre by the end of this year. In addition, we aim to create a pool of trainers who will become the resource for Namibian trainers to carry out these trainings themselves. Further, we are working with the Ministry of Higher Education and its agencies to initiate work to accredit our training,' Iipumbu said. Speaking at the launch, UNDP Resident Representative, Alka Bhatia, said Empretec Namibia intends to build resilience and boost confidence in MSMEs. With rising unemployment in Namibia, Bhatia said the programme aims to empower small business o wners with the skills necessary to become productive in the national economy. She also commended the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade for its idea to set up a blended financing programme that will provide grants and loans to MSME at a nominal interest rate. In support of SMEs, the Ministry of Finance has increased the ministry's budget by 31.7 per cent to N.dollars 365.5 million in 2024/25 financial year and a total of N.dollars 1.2 billion over the medium-term expenditure framework. Finance Minister Iipumbu Shiimi has said that funding has been allocated to the equipment aid scheme, Start-Up Namibia and Empretec Namibia to facilitate domestic trade activities and build domestic entrepreneurship capacity. Source: Namibia Press Agency

Tunis: Cooperation programmes between Tunisia and Italy in the fields of higher education and scientific research were the focus of a meeting between Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Moncef Boukthir and Italian Ambassador to Tunisia Alessandro Prunas and his accompanying delegation at the ministry's headquarters on Thursday. The two sides expressed their aspiration to further structure this cooperation by signing an agreement on cooperation in the fields of higher education and scientific research, which will identify the priority areas of cooperation between the two countries and create a steering committee, during the visit of the Italian Minister of Higher Education and Research to Tunisia in May, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research on Friday. They also stressed the need to work to further diversify cooperation between Tunisia and Italy in the fields of higher education and scientific research, and to strengthen it at the bilater al and multilateral levels in order to meet the aspirations of both sides and the real potential for achieving a real strategic partnership. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse – English

The STAR-Ghana Foundation, a centre for active citizenship and philanthropy, has challenged citizens, especially beneficiaries of social protection programmes, to exact accountability from the government if they feel aggrieved. Dr Ernestina Tetteh, the Project Manager of the Foundation, noted that social protection was a right citizens must enjoy and not a favour from the government. 'When the politicians come to you, don't be deceived by the petty gifts they give to you, especially in the campaign season,' she said. 'Don't approach it like you are seeking favour from them; respectfully, but firmly, make demands when you feel it is necessary because you deserve it.' Dr Tetteh was addressing a Town Hall meeting in Cape Coast to officially commence a nationwide manifesto influencing initiative and solicit concerns of citizens to be addressed by the political parties in their Election 2024 Manifesto. The consultative exercise is a forum to share challenges in the areas of health, education and social prote ction to influence the direction of political party manifestos. Three policy briefs on health, education and social protection would be produced based on the outputs and presented to the political parties and their presidential candidates. Successive governments have, over the years, introduced various social protection interventions including the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), school feeding, and free maternal care for the underprivileged. Dr Tetteh said her observations showed that most of the interventions were struggling owing to issues such as insufficient budgetary allocations and delays in releasing those monies and blamed weak coordination among the various public institutions responsible for executing these initiatives. While the NHIS, for instance, was almost always in arrears, the LEAP had a funding gap of about GHC400 million. The Project Manager expressed worry over the poor quality of food served in some basic schools under the School Feeding Programme due to delays in payment. She urged the authorities to increase budgetary allocations for social protection programmes and endeavour to release them promptly to give relief to the beneficiaries. Dr Tetteh advocated the provision of complementary social protection for the vulnerable, marginalised and excluded groups. There was also the need to expand social protection for informal sector workers to prevent vulnerabilities, she said and called for strong complaint and accountability mechanisms to ensure effective implementation of such policies. The vulnerability, typically attributed to rural communities, was increasingly becoming an urban phenomenon largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which ravaged many urban communities. She, therefore, called for special attention for peri-urban dwellers in the formulation and implementation of social protection programmes to mitigate their struggles. Source: Ghana News Agency

Tunis: Secretary of State to the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training in charge of community companies Riadh Chaouad, chaired the signing ceremony of a partnership agreement between the specialized community company "Siristi" in the exploitation and valorization of forest products in the locality of Om Laboueb in El Fahs and the Tunisian-Dutch company «Agriland». This agreement aims to promote forest products other than wood, across the entire area exploited by the Siristi company. Under this agreement, the Agriland company undertakes to develop a rosemary distillation unit, recover its waste for various uses as well as provide technical training for young people working in this unit, Manager of the community company Slah Arfaoui said. He pointed out that the Agriland company will contribute to the reforestation of forest areas damaged by fires and the development of tracks so as to facilitate transport operations, in addition to the rehabilitation of schools in the locality of Om Laboueb. The S ecretary of State told journalists that the community company in Om Laboueb has created 200 permanent jobs since its start at the end of 2023, noting that the daily wage of women working in this sector is between 15 to 85 dinars. «A number of financial institutions will contribute to the financing of community companies apart from the Tunisian Solidarity Bank,» he indicated, adding that the financing ceiling will increase from TND300,000 to million dinars. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse – English

Ghanaian Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises' (MSMEs) participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) gets major boosts with a $70, 000 grant. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/ Absa Bank Ghana partnership is part of a series of business development activities, which has already supported about 3,000 enterprises over the past four years. Under the current programme, some 18 MSMEs that qualified from an innovation pitching competition would be supported to scale and firm up their operations and leverage opportunities presented by the continental free trade. Beneficiaries of the integrated MSMEs support programme were drawn from six Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) - Sagnerigu, Jomoro, Ketu South, Sefwi Wiawso, Kumasi, and Kassena-Nankana West. Dr Angela Lusiga, UNDP Resident Representative to Ghana, expressed confidence in the programme helping address the financing gap for MSMEs, and for them to be fully prepared to participate in AfCFTA. 'At UNDP , we believe that providing integrated support to small businesses particularly those owned by women and youth is key to transforming the economy and unlocking the productivity of the informal sector. This will create decent jobs and break the cycle of poverty and inequality,' she said. She said UNDP through a study observed the lack of knowledge by many Ghanaian MSMEs about the free trade agreement, leading to the provision of the US$70,000 grant. 'We started with a survey where we asked MSMEs what they knew about AfCFTA. We found out that there were many enterprises that didn't even know about AfCFTA. Most of them didn't know much about the opportunities and products that are allowed under the AfCFTA,' she said. Dr Lusiga said UNDP had effectively addressed the awareness deficit about the AfCFTA with the beneficiary MSMEs through working with the National Coordination Office of AfCFTA to spread awareness of the agreement in different districts. Madam Audrey Abakah, Head of SME Agency at ABSA Bank, encou raged MSMEs to have proper accounts, as it remained a major access to finance constraint in the country. She urged the MSMEs to fully apply the concepts taught under the programme to enhance their enterprises. Kofi Ansong Denkyi, the Chief Operating Officer of Empretec Ghana, said the expansion of an enterprise transcended access to grants, noting that the mindset of the entrepreneurs was key to the success of the enterprises. 'Money alone doesn't make entrepreneurs successful. What makes entrepreneurs successful is their mindset and behavior. So, I urge the awardees to continue to cultivate the right mindset and behaviour to become growth-oriented businesses,' he said. He also encouraged them to prepare for risks, saying some businesses could derail the growth of their enterprises if they did not have the mental fortitude to overcome them. Source: Ghana News Agency