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Momodou
Denmark
11735 Posts |
 Posted - 12 Sep 2007 : 22:41:11
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UNLEASHING THE POTENTIAL OF YOUNG ENTREPRENUERS
“Financial need in my family moved my heart to come up with a business plan,”says David Ssegawa
While speaking at a conference addressing youth enterprise and sustainable livelihoods in London this week, Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, posed the question:
Do we recognise young people as the problem or the solution?
Mr McKinnon then told a story about a young boy from Chandigarh in India who was taught computing skills for six hours inside the back of a van. Investment in this young person gave him the necessary skills to set up his own business and help both his family and the community he lived in.
The conference -- Investing in Youth: Unleashing the Potential of Young Entrepreneurs –which took place on 10 September 2007- examined ways in which young entrepreneurs, business leaders and policy-makers can spur youth enterprise and fight against unemployment in the Commonwealth. It was organised by the Youth Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Speakers and other participants at the conference held in Marlborough House, the association’s headquarters, discussed how more young people, such as the individual mentioned by the Secretary-General, can be helped when they are seen as the solution and not the problem.
Participants also heard from the winner of a BBC competition -- ‘Prosper with the BBC’ -- that invited young people to submit business proposals. David Ssegawa, 22, from Kampala in Uganda, was given £2,000 and a laptop so that he can realise his dream of setting up a successful company. As part of developing his business skills, Mr Ssegawa also received mentorship from Makerere University Business School in Uganda.
“I have always dreamt of becoming a responsible and wealthy person who can support my family. There is a financial need in my family that moved my heart to come up with a business plan,” said Mr Ssegawa.
In the next three months, Mr Ssegawa hopes to launch his company, Bright Light, which will make and sell candles. He is looking forward to employing and training other young people, as well as coming up with solutions, including advertising campaigns and producing candle holders, to stop houses being burned down.
The draft declaration which emerged from the conference was welcomed by those present. Further suggestions were also noted, including introducing classes in schools which specifically prepare young people for working life.
Investment in enterprise skills; investment in basic needs such as health care; and a fair trade agreement and debt relief to enable serious inroads into unemployment in the developing world, were called for.
The focus on youth mainstreaming, which is a strategy for making youth concerns and experiences an integral part of programmes so that young people benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated, was also welcomed. This strategy is part of the new Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment that was launched at the event.
Ravi Gehlot, a 24-year-old young entrepreneur who made £1 million before he was 18, read out the draft declaration. During the course of the day he also explained the process of setting up his own business and the initiative he subsequently set up which gives away grants to teenagers so they too can set up their own businesses.
“Setting up a business is very difficult. People don’t plan to fail in terms of their business, they fail to plan.” Mr Gehlot advised young entrepreneurs to “ensure that they know as much as possible about the business sector they want to work in as well as getting relevant experience.”
This view and other opinions expressed throughout the day examined how youth enterprise can be achieved when, as the Secretary-General noted, young people are viewed as the solution and not the problem.
Source: CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service
Issue 356 - 12 September 2007
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