Hollard Life Botswana’s Project124 Initiative Transforms Youth Entrepreneurship And Job Creation For The Nation’s Youth

Hollard Life Botswana’s

Project124 initiative

transforms youth entrepreneurship and job creation for the nation’s youth

THE YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOCUSED INITIATIVE WAS FORMED AS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN HOLLARD LIFE BOTSWANA AND LAUNCHIT INTERNATIONAL

Hollard Life Botswana is part of the international Hollard Group, and entity based in South Africa which includes businesses formed with strong local partners in Botswana, Namibia, and other countries around the world. Hollard Life Botswana’s partnership philosophy has led to the company forming strategic partnerships and alliances with financial institutions, retailers, and specialized intermediaries, resulting in a uniquely varied range of distribution channels and mechanisms.

Project124, an initiative formed in 2016 brought by Launchit International in partnership with Hollard Life Botswana strives to transform youth entrepreneurship and expedite effective creation of sustainable jobs for youth across the country.

Carrying a mandate to build the economy one business at a time, Project124 seeks to meet economically

sustainable objectives by investing in the youth. Having been formed in Gaborone, Project124’s footprint has since expanded to areas including Palapye, Maun, Ghanzi, Francistown and Selebi Phikwe, thus reaching a wide range of entrepreneurs across Botswana. Although the initiative’s primary focus is building on its agenda in Botswana, its reach has grown throughout the years, expanding beyond Botswana’s borders into South Africa, Namibia, and Zambia.

Executive Program Manager, Mr. Goitsemang Khutsafalo says that their digital footprint is widely growing, and there are plans to organize online cohorts in other countries. He is optimistic about the possibilities of Project124 expanding even further to other countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, particularly those markets in which the Hollard Group operates. Dissecting Project124 Project124’s initiatives include The Annual Project124 Entrepreneurship Program, The Project124 Pop-Up Markets, The Project124 Country Tour and The Project124 Africa Finals. Some of the highlights of Project124 include youth entrepreneurs who received funding and training from various private investors and financial institutions. Through igniting passion and creativity in young entrepreneurs who are determined to make a difference in their communities, Project124 has succeeded in enhancing 1387 entrepreneurs through their impactful business and entrepreneurship events and programs, including their acceleration platform: the Stanbic Bank AcceleR8 Incubator.

Optimising Africa’s young entrepreneurs In challenging the high unemployment rate especially in developing countries such as Botswana, extensive job losses, and the additional challenges the Covid-19 pandemic presents, a platform like Project124 endeavors to assist countries to optimize their entrepreneurs to sustain their economies through rigorous promotion of entrepreneurship. There is a need for the development of entrepreneurs and enterprises with a strong

focus on global competitiveness, as well as sustainable business management that will contribute colossally towards improving entrepreneurship in Botswana and Africa, as well as creating sustainable jobs for youth in various countries.

Bonolo Belindah Molebatsi, a beneficiary of Project124’s program, is a 33- year-old goal-focused and customer-oriented business entrepreneur. Bonolo owns Nollycraft, a youth citizen owned company that provides professional cleaning services, and she credits Project124 for helping her grow as an individual, benefitting from having attained such skills as public speaking, writing winning business pitches, proposal writing, delegation skills, discipline in business and becoming equipped in business administration. Bonolo states that through the training she received from Project124 and her hard work and resilience she is now a fulltime volunteer as a mentor.

Project124’s newest initiative encompasses The Project124 Student Entrepreneurship Clubs. The Project124 Intervarsity Competitions are designed to bring the country’s best university minds under one roof to birth innovative solutions to the nation’s greatest challenges, as well as showcase the brilliance of Botswana’s innovative students within the Business, Entrepreneurship & Innovation space. The most recent Intervarsity Competitions were held in Gaborone in July 2021, under the theme “Leveraging Student Participation in the National Covid-19 Economic Recovery Plan”.