262 youth, (225 Females and 37 males) were equipped with entrepreneurship skills.
Recently, AFFCAD Cooperation Circle in Kampala Uganda awarded 262 (225 Females and 37 males) young entrepreneurs from the slums of Kawempe Division whose businesses were grossly affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic with certificates upon the completion of 14 days of training on entrepreneurship and employability thereafter being linked to financial institutions to support them meet their financial needs.
During the ceremony, AFFCAD Executive Director; Ms. Prudence Atukwatse urged the youth to continue engaging in income-generating activities rather than engage in criminal activities.
"I congratulate all youth that have undergone training on entrepreneurship and employability as this is a great milestone especially for the small businesses owners. I encourage you to continue engaging in business as you empower yourselves economically to support yourselves and your families," she stated.
The Guest of Honor of the day was the Deputy Mayor of Kawempe Division, Mr. Badiru Bakojja who thanked AFFCAD for the work that they are doing as they transform the lives of the youth in Kawempe. He urged youths to formalise their businesses and take advantage of the government programs like the Parish Development Model meant to uplift the youth. He then went ahead to award certificates to the youth.
This awarding ceremony marked the successful completion of training in Record Keeping, marketing, stock control, financial planning, and risk management that has been done over a period of ten months that started in January 2022.
Through follow up visits, we sampled 180 youths that had attended the training to assess the impact of the training with 35% registering an increase in sales, 39% registering an increase in customers and 26% businesses thriving because of the knowledge acquired during the training. 100% of the trainees have been able to access financial services for their businesses.
"I am grateful to AFFCAD and its partners for the opportunity to gain the knowledge that has helped me improve my business," Nakayemba Maggie, a trainee expressed during the awarding ceremony.
All this has been done with funding from the European Union through the Aga Khan Foundation under a project entitled Youth Entrepreneurship and Employability Skilling (YEES +) implemented in the parishes of Bwaise I, Bwaise II, and Bwaise III of Kawempe division in Kampala.
The training has impacted more than 400 businesses seeing their daily income increasing by at least 5% and 100% being able to access financial services through banks, microfinances and Savings and Lending Associations.
All this has been done with funding from the European Union through the Aga Khan Foundation under a project entitled Youth Entrepreneurship and Employability Skilling (YEES +) implemented in the parishes of Bwaise I, Bwaise II, and Bwaise III of Kawempe division in Kampala, Uganda. The overall objective of the project was to increase access to sustainable employment opportunities for youth in Kawempe slum communities to enable their businesses to flourish amidst the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
