Empowering young people with business skills in Zambia

15 December 2006

Young people from Zambia’s Kabompo community have been learning business skills, and in the process transferring this knowledge and empowerment into their personal lives.

The Kabompo AIDS Programme (KAP)* ran an entrepreneurship skills training workshop for young people to equip them with the skills and knowledge needed to create their own livelihoods. Through personal empowerment, the training became an innovative means to prevent the spread of HIV.

The young people themselves realised that without building their knowledge and expertise they would not find work in the community. Some participants had already thought about running their own business yet lacked the knowledge and resources to begin.

The project targeted 17 young women and 13 young men, and divided them into two entrepreneurial clubs: Kabompo School Leavers’ Business Group and Phakasa Youth Business Group. For five days, the two groups participated in lessons and activities where they learned how to understand different types of businesses and various business skills. On the final day, each group created a business plan, which had to be approved by KAP management before they could take away the initial capital to set up their business.

Achievements

The experience helped build a platform for young people in the community to share and learn from each another. Specifically, it created:

  • survival skills for those involved
  • two sustainable business groups, managed by the young people themselves
  • an awareness of personal responsibility and positive living for themselves and their families.

There were also a number of challenges. These included:

  • forming a business group from a large number of young people from different backgrounds with varying motivations.
  • acquiring sufficient capital support for the young people participating in the entrepreneurial projects.
  • meeting the growing demand for other young people in the community to receive training and business support.

The workshop seems to have had a positive impact on everyone involved. Read more about what participants Kayimbo Fumbelo and Kennedy Madichi, Lucius Kayeye, Charity Malasa thought about the experience and how it has changed their lives.

*Kabompo AIDS Programme is an implementing partner of Alliance Zambia and is located in Kabompo district in the Northwestern Province of Zambia. It targets at-risk groups such as children, women and young people in order to reduce their vulnerability to HIV and AIDS. Entrepreneurial skills and capital support empowerment are an important component in the programmes that target young people. The Alliance provides technical and financial support to the programme – one of three organisations that the Alliance is supporting in the North Western province of Zambia.