business

June 5, 2019

2 min read

Youth project launched for job creation

Youth project launched for job creation

Entrepreneurship

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The government of Lesotho on Tuesday launched the Bacha Entrepreneurship Project Phase 11(Year 2) in a bid to assist the youth to start their own businesses. The project is part of government’s initiative to reduce the high unemployment rate and eradicate the adverse poverty in Lesotho.

The initiative is funded to the tune of M700 000 by the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA), Standard Lesotho Bank (SLB) and Basotho Enterprise Development Cooperation (BEDCO). Speaking at the launch, ’Maneheng Mopeli from LRA said the initiative targets youths between the ages of 21 to 35 with academic backgrounds ranging from Form E upwards. Mopeli said the three Institutions’ joined venture sponsored the Bacha Phase 11 project in accordance to government’s plan to eliminate poverty and reduce high unemployment rate. She said the project is part of the national reforms process intended to transform the lives of Lesotho youths.

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For her part, the chief executive officer of BEDCO, Dr ’Makatleho Matabooe said Phase 1 of the project, which was established in 2014 is up and running now. Matabooe said they since learned a lot of that phase of the project, adding they would pass on their lessons to the new phase. She said they injected capital to the tune of 500 000 in phase before the funding was increased to the current amount this year. She said they have increased the number of proposals from 25 to 40, adding they are now considering candidates from high school who might be interested to venture into business.

“One of the major developments in this project was increasing the number of proposals as opposed to Phase 1 where we used to receive less than 100 business proposals.” Matabooe said one of their key successes emerged from their mobilization strategy which was introduced about the project in all districts including both urban and rural schools. She said the project has a huge potential to create employment, adding that to date, the project has already created at least 16 jobs. She said one of the challenges they have since encountered included businesses straying from the original plan due to mismanagement.

“One of our major challenge is youths who fail to adhere to good principles and guidance to manage their businesses efficiently,” she said. She said another challenge is the issue of conflict of interests between business partners, which usually leads to the ultimate collapse of businesses. Their vision she said to establish various businesses for Basotho youth is successful despite the challenges they face. “Business needs someone with a vision and passion to become successful,” she noted. On behalf of the Standard Lesotho Bank, Rethabile Mabaleha said receiving the funds, the companies are incubated for a period of three years to monitor their performance and ensure the sustainability of the project.

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