Empowering the youth through innovation and entrepreneurship

One Economy Foundation ignites creativity and builds capacity through the youth micro-entrepreneurs masterclass.
Enzo Amuele
Mariselle Stofberg





As a youth-focused organisation, the One Economy Foundation recognises the critical role of innovation and youth entrepreneurship in stimulating local economic development. In line with the ethos of investing in the growth of micro-entrepreneurs, the foundation hosted a two-day masterclass from 23 to 24 April in Ongwediva under the theme ‘building capacity, transforming businesses and improving socio-economic outcomes’.

The training was attended by 19 youth micro-entrepreneurs from the Oshana, Oshikoto, Ohangwena and Omusati regions. The masterclass strengthened the capacity, confidence, networks and capital of youth micro-entrepreneurs, thereby better positioning them to build sustainable, impactful and profitable businesses.

The entrepreneurs benefitted from an array of business skills development sessions, including market research, design thinking, financing opportunities, mental health, marketing and scaling and growth strategies.

The entrepreneurs also received information on how to leverage international trade opportunities and harness partnerships to strengthen and sustain their businesses.

“The foundation convened a forum in mid-2020 which assembled entrepreneurs and experts to dialogue on topical entrepreneurial issues and to provide fresh and nuanced perspectives. Building on the key learnings from the forum and One Nation Fund programme, we decided to host this training for youth micro-entrepreneurs,” Sem Mandela Uutoni, the CEO of the One Economy Foundation, said.

“The training was focused on building capacity of entrepreneurs in business development, pivoting, financial management and compliance. The training also addressed soft issues including innovation, mental health and leadership. The ambition was to build the personal and business competencies of participants, connect them with service providers and leverage shared lessons to accelerate business growth and socio-economic outcomes,” Uutoni added.

Pitch competition

The highlight of the training was a pitch competition where 10 micro-entrepreneurs battled it out for exciting cash prizes. After an intense round of pitches and questions, Wilbard Wilhem, founder of Shityeni Trading CC, emerged as the pitch competition winner, while Gabriel Shilongo, the owner of Okalongo Vegetable Supplies, was the runner-up. The winners walked away with N$15 000 and N$10 000 cash prizes and business mentoring.

“Through our partnership with the Development Bank of Namibia, the winners will go through an eight-week mentorship programme where they will benefit from the input, advice and expertise of seasoned business and industry professionals,” Uutoni said.

“The masterclass was very informative and empowering. Thank you to One Economy Foundation for giving us an opportunity to learn entrepreneurial best practices and nuances which we can use to grow our businesses,” one of participants, Vilho Simon, said.

“The after-shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic will continue to have a profound impact on many aspects of business far into the future. In between are vast swathes of youth micro-entrepreneurs where the task now is to adjust to the shock of the past year and find novel ways to survive,” Uutoni said.

“Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which contribute over 11% to the gross domestic product and make up over 20% of the total workforce in Namibia, are likely to face greater difficulties recovering than their larger rivals since they operate on smaller cash reserves and thinner profit margins. Thus, there is an imperative to empower and capacitate youth and micro entrepreneurs to thrive in post-pandemic era, and this masterclass is a direct response to that call,” Uutoni said.