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After learning how to price, market, and do bookkeeping for my business, I was not only able to get myself back on track, but I also managed to repay a loan two months ahead of the deadline. This would never have happened without the training funded by the Foundation and its sponsors.
Inga Boye
Beneficiary, Youth Opportunity
The Youth Opportunity Pillar
The Youth Opportunity (YO!) Pillar is a youth-friendly meeting place where young people can become #BeFree innovators through shared conceptualisation and design-thinking. It is intended to facilitate shared problem-solving of the challenges faced by local communities, grassroots entrepreneurs and Small and Medium Enterprises.
With a focus on sustainable and innovative technology and enterprise, YO! provides young people with the opportunity to future-proof their communities through the next industrial Revolution. As a programme, YO! partners with existing stakeholders to strengthen and increase accessibility to vocational skills training in an effort to enhance skills development and address unemployment.
What We Do
Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB)
The One Economy Foundation, in collaboration with the Khomas Regional Council and the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication, and Social Welfare, is proud to present the Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) training programme. This flagship initiative of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is designed to empower aspiring and existing entrepreneurs with the skills and knowledge needed to start, sustain, and grow their businesses.
The SIYB programme is structured into three comprehensive training packages, each tailored to different stages of business development:
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Generate Your Business Idea (GYB): Intended for individuals who would like to start a business and develop a concrete business idea ready for implementation.
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Start Your Business (SYB): For potential entrepreneurs who want to start a small business and already have a concrete business idea. -
Improve Your Business (IYB): Introduces existing entrepreneurs to good business management principles.
Skills-Based Entrepreneurial Training
YO! offers comprehensive Skills-Based Entrepreneurial Training programs, designed to empower young individuals, including those living with HIV, disabilities, out-of-school youth, and the unemployed.
The Skills-Based Entrepreneurial Training sessions have successfully empowered Namibian youth with practical skills and entrepreneurial knowledge. By fostering individual empowerment and community development, this initiative serves as a model for addressing unemployment and promoting inclusive economic growth.
Financial Literacy Training
The Youth Opportunity (YO!) Pillar, under the One Economy Foundation, is dedicated to advancing entrepreneurial initiatives that foster lasting business empowerment. Our Financial Literacy Workshops are designed to equip micro-entrepreneurs with essential financial knowledge and skills, promoting financial inclusion and sustainable business growth.
These workshops aim to:
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Improve financial literacy and behavior
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Enhanced financial management skills
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Increased business growth and access to finance
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Development of a supportive community of micro-entrepreneurs
The One Nation Fund (ONF) Microfinance and Entrepreneurial Training Programme was launched in February 2018 and took an economic development approach by providing second-economy grassroots and micro-entrepreneurs with access to collateral-free business loans (capital), confidence, and capacity-building opportunities - all of which are needed to flourish in the first economy.
ONF was established as a zero-return rolling fund, which expected the beneficiaries to repay their loans to allow us to lend to other micro-entrepreneurs.
Our focus was on high-potential micro-entrepreneurs who were unable to access finance through the financial system. Thus, this fund gave them a second chance. A vital matrix for the fund was social returns, which were at the heart of why the fund was created.
The programme rolled out five (5) micro-finance cycles and issued loans to 46 entrepreneurs, this investment is valued at N$ 2.4 million.
The One Nation Fund supported entrepreneurs from February 2018 until 2019.
The following sectors were funded
5
Agricultural
Businesses
17
Service
Businesses
20
Trade & Retail
Businesses
1
Education
Business
3
Production
Businesses
One Nation Fund in numbers
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N$ 2.4 million in funding to 46 micro-entrepreneurs; disbursed through the ONE Seed Fund and Growth Fund;
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Facilitated training of 77 micro-entrepreneurs on basic business skills, costing, taxation, business registration and intellectual property;
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Regional representation in 10 of Namibia’s 14 regions;
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55 permanent jobs created in the rural and peri-urban communities; and
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12 micro-entrepreneurs connected to mentors through ONF Mentorship Framework.
Our Impact
“Before receiving assistance from ONE, there was no shade for the children to play under, no structure around the school, and the classroom doors were broken.
Through the ONF, we were able to renovate the school. We received corrugated iron, which was used to build a structure around the school and create shade for the children. Additionally, we received new doors, water tanks, educational materials, and playground toys.”
Eunike Iiyambo – ONF Beneficiary and Entrepreneur
Our Impact
“I am excited and happy; there are people trying to uplift the youth through such interventions.
What I am going to do with the money is clear more land to increase production. I want to buy more pipes. I am also going to put up a tap where people in my community can access water easily since there is no access point and access to clean water.”
Shilongo – who has been running his vegetable supply business since 2019.
