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(Dateline 27th July 2007, Nairobi.) At 10:00 a.m. on Monday, 30th July 2007 in the Boardroom at the Ministry of State for Youth Affairs (MOYA) at Kencom House 3rd Floor, we will announce the “the best of the best” 300 applicants for the Chora Bizna Believe Begin Become (BBB) Business Plan Competition. These winning names will be posted on the competition (www.believe-begin-become.com/ke as well as at the offices of MOYA and Post Bank starting 31st July, 2007. All 300 will be notified where to attend the eight-day business workshops at locations in all eight provinces. Highly qualified trainers will lead the discussions and activities. During the workshops, mentors with a wide variety of business expertise will be assigned to each of the 300 students to support their efforts throughout the remainder of the BBB challenges through 17th November.
The judges, recruited from local business professionals, had to sift through the many viable ideas among the 5,100 business concepts. The rigorous screening process took place in secured facilities of the TechnoServe office in Nairobi. So that no one region has received preference, the Top 300 proportionally represents each of the eight Kenyan provinces based on the most recent census.
For Chora Bizna applicants to find out if they qualified to be part of the Top 300, they should go to:
- www.believe-begin-become.com/ke
- All District MOYA offices where applications had been distributed in Kenya
- All Postbank branches where applications had been distributed in Kenya
As of 31st July, the Top 300 will be contacted with the dates, locations, and other details for their 8-day workshops. In brief their schedule will be:
Town Venue Dates in August 2007
Nairobi Kenya Science Teachers College 22nd – 29th
Kisumu Ukweli Pastoral Center 13th – 20th
Kakamega Kakamega Multipurpose Center 14th – 21st
Eldoret Amecea Pastoral Center 15th – 22nd
Machakos St. Joseph’s Pastoral Center 21st – 28th
Nakuru Imani Guest House 20th – 27th
Nyeri Consolata Pastoral Center 21st – 28th
Embu EAST College 22nd – 29th
Mombasa CDM Community Center 16th – 23rd
Garissa Farmers Training Institute 17th – 24th
During their business training, students will be assigned to mentors local to each province. During that training, daily sessions will be packed with vital information covering all critical areas for starting, operating and/or expanding a sustainable business (see table below). Through the end of the final award ceremony in Nairobi on 17th November, the mentors will motivate students, clarify the workshop learnings, and answer questions specific to the individual’s business ideas.
Experienced trainers will teach eight hours or more of each of the following topics during the eight-day “mini-MBA” curriculum:
Entrepreneurship Business Plan Basics
Strategic Plans Operations
Marketing Finance
Leadership/Management Communication
Legal & Ethical Issues
What about the other 4,800 applicants? We are actively seeking partners among corporations and financial institutions who want to recruit entrepreneurs in specific industry sectors. We hope to help all Chora Bizna participants find mentors, coaches, internships, and/or funding. Also the many thousands of 18 to 35 year olds who attended one of the 23 one-day Believe Begin Become workshops from Garissa to Kisumu, Mombasa to Nairobi, are already a step ahead of other future entrepreneurs. As importantly, the Ministry of State for Youth Affairs’ Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) is seeking good business ideas to underwrite. Interested youth should check www.youthaffairs.go.ke for the list of YEDF financial institutions partnering with MOYA to distribute funding to those qualified.
We encourage all young people who think they have good business ideas not to lose momentum. There are still opportunities for all creative youth eager to take charge of their future! Just Believe in yourself, Begin to take action, and Become a successful business owner. Especially congratulations to Top 300 who will receive further business training. We hope they will be one of the lucky prize winners to start their dreamed-about future enterprises--maybe qualifying for up to Kes. 1 million AND Youth Development Fund money!
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