South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Simon Deng & Arich Deng Anyar
The mentorship training for young entrepreneurs under the Orange Corners program, supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands has inspired the first batch of 23 beneficiaries to work hard to transform their start-up businesses.
Dalia James Wani, a 28 -year-old beneficiary of the six month training implemented BizEx Limited said the skills acquired during the mentorship training will help her to grow her pharmacy business.
“It has benefited me in so many ways, so I have gotten a lot of knowledge about how to run my business and how to deal with challenges in the business and in the country. So the training has been designed for the context of our country,” said Wani, who owns planet health pharmacy in an interview with The Dawn on Wednesday in Juba.
“We have been trained on almost everything related to the business from digital marketing, logistics, and as well how to package products,” she added.
Wani said that previously she was not making profit in her business, but she hopes this will soon change after she acquired knowledge on how to save her hard -earned profits and also manage her tax obligations.
Duom Peter,36, the Chief Executive Officer for Junub Kid, a company that develops books for children, said he has gained vital knowledge which will help improve his nascent business.
“I have already used this knowledge to supply books to about 200 nursery schools in Juba,” said Peter.
Esther Jama, the Program coordinator for Orange Corners South Sudan said the entrepreneurship training is aimed to grow small and medium sized businesses across the country.
“For the last six months, we have been training young South Sudanese in the age bracket of 18 to 35, about entrepreneurial skills. We are trying to bridge the gap in skills,” said Jama.
She added that the training helps young entrepreneurs to sustain their businesses.
Deborah Akech, Undersecretary in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, commended the successful entrepreneurs and advised them to start their businesses after this training.
“When we talk of social problems, we look right at our feet and that is our country, South Sudan. It’s a nation that has emerged out of the civil war, and we have many things that we need to fix in order to reach to the level of some developing countries,” said Akech.
She urged the entrepreneurs to make good use of the training they have attended.
“It is a privilege to have this program and I also want to assure you that the government has a youth training program. We have a policy in place that is tabled in parliament; we are waiting for the parliament to endorse it,” said Akech.
Paul Tholen, Ambassador of the kingdom of the Netherlands, said the investment in training youth entrepreneurs is aimed to contribute to a brighter, peaceful and more prosperous future of South Sudan.
“The Netherlands believes in putting young entrepreneurs, women and men at the center of economic development, to create better perspectives for them, and for South Sudan,” said Tholen.
“The Orange Corners approach of business training and coaching has proven to be a great success in other countries in the region. It was high time to have an Orange Corner in South Sudan,” he added.
Tholen said this initiative implemented by BizEx Limited trains promising young entrepreneurs, adding that more than 20 Orange Corners programs in Africa have already supported over 3000 entrepreneurs.
“South Sudan needs a more supportive business environment for young entrepreneurs, to allow for diversification of the economy and economic growth,” said Tholen.
He revealed that entrepreneurs need good business mindset, business skills, capital including good infrastructure, affordable Internet, a fair tax system, and a simple low-cost business registration process.
