Entrepreneurship Regional Workshop set for June

The Student Entrepreneurs Programme (SEP) which was held this week in Windhoek brought together officials from all 14 regions to discuss the Entrepreneurship Regional Workshop which is planned to take place in June 2017.

The Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Deputy Minister, Dr Becky Joze-Ojo who was present said that the purpose of the meeting was to inform the Governors about the envisaged regional entrepreneurship workshop as well as to solicit input from them and encourage more involvement in the initiative.

According to Joze-Ojo, the aim of the Regional workshop is to provide quality and equitable tertiary education and exposure to tertiary students and trainees from accredited institutions.

This will be done as part of an integral part of the Harambee Initiative under the Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation (MHETI) to curb rural-urban migration, she said.

The deputy minister said it involves the propagation of entrepreneurial instruction to explore business opportunities to be turned into business ventures in the regions where rural-urban migration is more likely to occur.

While developing business ideas alone is not enough, Joze-Ojo said that a business culture and the desire among students/trainees to become job creators as opposed to job seekers helps mitigate the escalating high unemployment rate among graduates from tertiary institutions and stimulate regional economic growth.

At the meeting the governors identified the key challenges hindering the graduates to become entrepreneurs at their respective regions and discussed how to overcome them through entrepreneurship workshops and mutual support from the communities they live in.

The governors also applauded the Ministry for coming up with entrepreneurship programme initiatives. The Ministry Deputy Permanent, Dr. Raimo Naanda underscored the importance to engage the Government Regional leadership for transparency and inclusivity to be maintained.