Kgalagadi Beverages Trust (“KBT”), the corporate social investment arm of Kgalagadi Breweries (Pty) Ltd (KBL) and Botswana Breweries (Pty) Ltd (BBL), will be hosting this year’s KickStart Awards at a grand ceremony to be held at Gaborone International Convectional Centre (GICC) on the 27 August 2012.
At the close of submission of entries for KickStart 2012, over a thousand applications were received from promising young entrepreneurs from all over the country. Of these, fifteen projects were selected at preliminary judging and their promoters taken through business skills training.
The training has become a critical component of the KickStart Programme as it empowers the young entrepreneurs by placing them in a better position to run and manage their own enterprises. Following the final judging for the competition, the best businesses will each be awarded grant monies of up to one hundred thousand Pula to develop their businesses.
It is to be expected that entrepreneurial aspirants will be firmly tethered to their seats in hopeful suspense as winning the KickStart grant will instantly qualify them to realize their dreams of owning a successful business. Only those businesses that demonstrate a vivid and solid business case will be given grant monies equivalent to their business plan requirements.
The successful businesses will also be enrolled in a year-long business development mentorship programme to provide them with the best opportunity to develop quickly, become competitive and penetrate their respective markets.
KBL and BBL Managing Director Hloni Matsela said, “As our flagship corporate social investment programme, KickStart has delivered first-class results year on year and continues to make a positive difference to the lives of young people all over Botswana, from the entrepreneurs themselves, the people they employ and the customers they serve. We celebrate KickStart as it falls squarely within our sustainable development model, helping to create jobs and wealth within our communities.”
Over the past eight years, KickStart has consistently empowered competent young entrepreneurs with access to adequate capital and mentorship to transform their business ideas into a reality and provide business expansion capital for others. Last year KickStart supported three youth entrepreneurial businesses, from which the best performing business will be awarded twenty thousand Pula. The programme has enabled more than 30 young Batswana entrepreneurs to realise their dreams of owning a business.
