Registration of youth businesses to participate in the forthcoming Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture (MYSC) Youth business expo have begun online and at the various MYSC offices.
The expo is scheduled to take place over a period of six days starting May 24th ÔÇô 29th, 2016 and will serve as a platform where youth people can showcase wares from their businesses. “Eligible youth businesses include, those funded by the Ministry, self funded youth businesses and those that have been funded by various funding streams,” reads a statement from MYSC. In addition to this application criterion, the youth applicants’ businesses will further be selected based on set criteria given the limited space available for the set up of stalls. The expo is expected to accommodate 300 youth businesses who will be selected by the committee responsible for it. The Ministry also invites other youth who are interested in participating in the various workshops that will be carried out to also register. The Ministry will provide transport and food (morning tea and lunch) to the selected applicants but they are however expected to arrange their own accommodation.
Public events, such as showcases, have proven to be an effective method of stimulating the promotion of goods and services offered by exhibiting businesses. It is a concept that is widely used, even at a national level. It could also be said it addresses the distribution and marketing pipelines of a business, but does not encompass tools necessary in driving a business towards sustainable growth. Entrepreneurship in Botswana has taken bold strides over the years, in the form of training, mentoring and funding, but is yet to achieve its utmost goal of breaking the youth unemployment shackles. Through the workshops to be conducted at the expo, it is anticipated that insights and networking capabilities will be unlocked to continue ushering entrepreneurship towards a progressive transformation.
