FEDE Mentorship Promotes Sustainability For Women In Business

By Bakang Tiro

A28-year-old local fashion entrepreneur, Mpho Chepete, has established the FEDE Mentorship Programme under her business FEDE COUTURE. The Mentorship Program is designed for young unemployed women to assert an independent lifestyle through fashion design that includes tailoring and sewing.

Chepete's undying love for fashion led her to the gates of Limkokwing University, where she studied for an Associate Degree in Fashion and Apparel Design. In 2018 she registered her clothing brand, FEDE COUTURE.

Chepete came up with the initiative after realising the high number of school dropouts churned out by the government educational system annually. She feared the situation would lead to students degrading their values while trying to make a living and become victims of Gender-Based Violence, suicide, drug abuse, or HIV/AIDS in some instances.

She explained that the programme targets girls and young women aged between 18 and 25, from junior certificate holders to those with tertiary education. Chepete also said they intend to usher in at least 20-50 unemployed young women through entrepreneurship development and skill training programmes. The program is expected to run for three years. She said this would decrease the rate of unemployment, which went up during the period 2020/2021 in Botswana.

FEDE COUTURE: THE BRAND FEDE has been featured in a couple of shows like the Kushatha and Masa Fashion shows. It has

also participated in various Mentorship programs other than the FEDE mentorship program.

Through her excellence and demonstrated brilliance in Fashion, Chepete has been part of the MISS BOTSWANA organising team since 2019 to date. She is the Assistant Coordinator of the fashion show under the leadership of Kaone Moremong in the Pageantry Unit. FEDE has also dressed TV personalities on a popular show on Maru TV.

HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS Every six months, the organisation helps mentees set up their businesses and continues mentoring them until they are fit enough to operate on their own.

Since the inception of the program, the response from aspiring female entrepreneurs has been good as they received 400 applicants; unfortunately, they can only have an in-take of 20 to 50 candidates. "Due to many applicants, we have increased the number of mentees to at least 60. The criteria is that one must be unemployed, be a young person, and tell us why they are interested in being a fashion designer. They must also be able to explain the kind of impact they will make if they were to be enrolled in the program," she explained, buttressing that the idea is to see more women into fashion.

THE IMPACT The mentorship program is making a visible impact as those who enrol in it value the lessons learned from it. "I would say most of my mentees have benefited from the program. I have also come to understand that it takes some time for someone to understand the value that I try to give them. And a majority of them take it quite seriously because it is an opportunity to change their lives. We started this year, so we are hoping to establish 20 businesses by the end of the six months of mentoring," she highlighted.

In addition, Chepete is involved in other community empowerment initiatives that aim to bring change. She is part of the 'Masedi-a-Botswana' program, which is a group of young volunteers who help advocate for the development of the nation.

Chepete said the dream is to make an impact by encouraging gender equality and empowering all women and girls by 2030, this is also in recognition of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The goal is to inspire women to be independent.

Furthermore, Chepete said she aims to see the program being piloted as a national initiative. "The first 12 months of the program, only young ladies in Gaborone will benefit from our mentorship since our operations are all based in Gaborone. We will extend our services outside the City as time goes on," she said when asked about the rollout capacity of the initiative.