MTN Foundation’s E50 000 to 5 graduates
MANZINI - MTN Foundation splashed E50 000 worth of seed capital to five Mpaka Vocational Training Centre graduates, as 55 youth from the institution graduated yesterday.
The 55 young people from the vocational centre were under the MTN Foundation/ Junior Achievement (JA) Eswatini partnership and they graduated in entrepreneurship after they were trained on vocational skills, which equipped them to be able to start their own businesses. The graduation ceremony was held at the institution.
Out of the 55 graduates, five were awarded with a seed capital for their businesses to the tune of E10 000 each, courtesy of MTN Foundation. The partnership between MTN Foundation and JA Eswatini started in 2017 and has seen 197 youths getting vocational training and a sum of about E725 000 had been invested over the years.
Encouraged
The Director of small and medium enterprises (SMMEs) in the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Mluleki Dlamini, who doubles as JA Eswatini Board Chairperson, encouraged the youth to utilise the funds made available by government in assisting them source finances to start and/or develop their businesses.
Meanwhile, MTN Foundation Board Chairperson Busisiwe Simelane encouraged the youth to embrace every opportunity that would be presented to them as that would be a starting point for their future. She highlighted that partnerships like that of MTN Foundation and JA Eswatini were vital as they kept them (youth) engaged.
After that, the MTN Foundation Board chairperson thanked JA Eswatini for continuing with the trainings, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, as
Emantimandze Exclusive Farm’s Ntombikayise Shongwe (C) posing with her E10 000 replica cheque of the sead capital with (L-R) MTN Foundation Board Chairperson Busisiwe Simelane, JA Eswatini Executive Director Phetsile Masilela, Director of SMMEs and JA Eswatini Board Chairperson Mluleki Dlamini and Mpaka Vocational Training Centre Principal Macdonald Dlamini. this kept the sponsorship momentum.
Thereafter, she urged all young people to partake in the upcoming MTN Entrepreneurship Skills Hub Trainings that would be held as of today going forward.
She said as MTN Eswatini, they were about changing lives; hence their partnership with JA Eswatini made sense as their vision was also to change youth destinies through entrepreneurship.
It is worth noting that due to the alarming rate of unemployment in the country (33.3 per cent) and youth unemployment standing at about 60 per cent, the country is advocating and encouraging the youth to venture into vocational training.