Africa-Press – Lesotho. Basotho Enterprises Development Corporation (BEDCO) awarded M5 million to 50 youth entrepreneurs last Wednesday. The 50 youth entrepreneurs each received M100 000 in seed capital through winning BEDCO Business Plan Competition (BPC).
The competition was launched last year in November with the aim of growing micro businesses through the BPC which saw a stream of the youth enterprises contest.
It had called projects that are designed to respond to the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP II) which seeks to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth by targeting youth businesses from all over Lesotho.
This competition was funded by the African Development Bank. BEDCO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Idia Penane, when addressing the winners, said businesses are like newborn babies that require nurturing, a lot of attention and resilience.
She also encouraged them to stay strong because much will be expected from them, promising continuous support from BEDCO, which will provide incubation and mentorship services to ensure that their businesses are developed.
Penane also edged the winners to stay committed, saying BEDCO aims to bridge the gap between the unemployed and employed youth in Lesotho. The BPC Deputy Project Manager ‘Makali Nathane said this project supports government efforts to create jobs and promote inclusive growth and economic diversification.
The project focused on the manufacturing, tourism and agricultural businesses sector. Nathane said their biggest concern is that most registered big businesses in Lesotho are male dominated so this project was launched to empower youth and women since women have been marginalized for a long time in the corporate world.
Nathane said another phase of the BPC was based on promoting the enterprise development. She also mentioned that this is the second competition following the first which had assisted 10 entrepreneurs with capital of M100, 000 each in 2020.
She said they are not just giving away the money but rather there will be very strict monitoring by a team of experts which will guard the awarded businesses.
“Most people failed to come through to the competition because they thought the price was too good to be true while others came very late,” said Nathane.
She concluded that Lesotho has a lot of hidden talents among women and youth, saying they heard amazing ideas when participants were pitching their business plans.
The Minister of Small Businesses Development, Cooperatives and Marketing, Hon. Machesetsa Mofomobe advised the youth to use the M100 000 wisely and reframe from using the money for entertainment.
One of the winners ‘Mathekiso Ramositi said its truly a miracle in this country for this to happen, she said they will work very hard and use the money wisely so as to create jobs for Basotho. Another winner, Montši Montši said the money will enable him to extend his farm and produce.
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