The Telkom Foundation's latest project, the Entrepreneurship Programme, kicked off yesterday and aims to up-skill young business-minded individuals, enabling them to start and grow businesses.
The programme will include three provinces, Gauteng, the Free State and the Northern Cape, this year - with other provinces set to be part of similar initiatives in future.
A partnership between the foundation and Continuing Education at the University of Pretoria, the programme involves the training of 350 youth and women candidates. These are selected from databases of various government agencies and other organisations working with entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Telkom says the training programme is aimed at different levels, with varying criteria. "The Telkom Foundation funding accommodates 100 unemployed youth graduates in Gauteng to receive entrepreneurship development training and mentorship; 100 unemployed youth with no businesses in the Northern Cape to receive business start-up training and mentorship; 100 small business owners in the Free State to receive basic entrepreneurship training and mentorship; and 50 business women in Gauteng to be trained and mentored within the Women Entrepreneurship Development Programme."
Training duration for the different programmes ranges from five to 10 days, and mentorship, which is support given to candidates after training, ranges from 30 to 50 days.
Telkom Foundation head Sarah Mthintso says fighting unemployment is the broad aim the organisation adopts when it supports small business development initiatives - with particular focus on eradicating unemployment among SA's youth, graduates, and women.
"Entrepreneurship is an important vehicle towards job creation and it is for this reason that the foundation is investing in empowering entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs with the requisite skills and knowledge needed to venture into this area."
Telkom says the training programme is "well researched" and is expected to have meaningful, sustainable impact on the candidates.
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