50 youths get training on entrepreneurship

Some 50 aspiring young entrepreneurs have benefitted from one-day training on the prospect of doing business in Sierra Leone. (Photo: Todd Unterseher, US Embassy Economic Officer, Murtala and Boa Lee of Public Affairs)

The ‘Taking A Step Forward-How To Do Business in Sierra Leone’ youth entrepreneurship forum brought together current and aspiring entrepreneurs who went through rigorous sessions introducing them to the basics involved in establishing a business in Sierra Leone.

The training was an initiative of SaloneJamboree founder Murtala Mohamed Kamara following his recent trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the Global startup Youth and the Global Entrepreneurship summit. It was co-organized by the Youth Empowerment Initiative (YEI) with support from the US Embassy in Sierra Leone.

The one day training program was meant to help young people not only identify issues affecting them but so that they learn to be part of the effort to find solutions to their problems.

The training was also part of a drive to get young people more engaged in the economic development of Sierra Leone.

The forum heard various calls, including for stakeholders, vis-à-vis government, to create the enabling environment for young people to partake in economic activities.

Collaterals, high interest rates and securities were identified as major obstacles facing most Sierra Leoneans, particularly the youth,preventing them from venturing to the bank for capital.
This means very many young people fail to realize their dreams in running their own businesses.

Guest Speaker, Murtala Mohamed Kamara, told participants that the challenges of starting up differs across the world, but that in Sierra Leone it`s extremely difficult, particularly when it comes to accessing capital. The forum, he said, was geared towards discussing this, but also to
share what he`d learnt in Malaysia.

Kamara was part of 500 youth world -wide who recently took part in the 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Summit organized by the Malaysian Government with support from the US State Department. His participation was sponsored by the United States Department through the US Embassy in Sierra Leone.

Last week`s forum which was held at the US Africell Corner on Bathurst Street, was a result of that.

“I wanted to make sure that I share with the youth of Sierra Leone what I learnt from that summit,” Kamara, who is CEO of Arts and Entertainment publication, Salonejamboree, said. “We have a group of people with ideas but lack the support. They need the mentorship,” he added.

Kamara said the one-day forum demonstrated the US Embassy`s commitment to helping the youth.

The sessions combined interactions between presenters and participants and presentations were done by facilitators drawn from the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Sierra Leone, the National Youth Commission, and the investment firm, ITASCAP and the US Embassy here among others.

The Administrator and Registrar-General, Mrs Haja Mariama Seray Kallay, as well as a representative from the investment banking group, JP Anderson, also made presentations.

Three women who`d earlier benefitted from overseas fellowship experiences under the US Embassy`s sponsorship were also at hand to impress on the participants under the Alumni Experience session. They shared their experiences traveling to the US, what they learnt and how they made use of it in their work back home in Sierra Leone. This was then followed by group discussions with three groups headed by the three former US Embassy fellows who will serve as mentors for these participating youths for the next few months.

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