Page 6 - JacarandaHub newsletter

NEXT GEN
Having opened the call to the public for registration, the
Next Generation National Youth Incubation Challenge
received overwhelming response from local entrepreneurs
who are looking to go through the incubation programme.
A total of 1130 startups successfully applied for the
programme with a gender disaggregation of 763 males and
367 females. 500 were shortlisted for incubation, of which
100 were agribusiness startups in sectors such as soya beans
production and aquaculture.The participants underwent an
intense 8-week incubation process where they were trained
in various areas including product development, compliance and governance, Canvas modelling etc. post
incubation, each of the 100 participants were matched to mentors who took them on a one-on-one session.
The successful completion of each of these phases is a bigger accomplishment having been implemented
during the apex of the Covid19 pandemic which saw the imposition of restrictions on physical gatherings
as well as election period which saw the meddling of internet connectivity which posed a challenge to
online sessions.

UNIDO/FAO OYA

The “Opportunities for Youth in Africa” (OYA) programme
was developed jointly by the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in
response to a dedicated call for accelerating efforts in the
area of job creation for African youths, especially through
agribusiness and entrepreneurship development. FAO

and UNIDO launched this joint programme at the Seventh
Tokyo International Conference on African Development
(TICAD7) in Yokohama, Japan, on 29 August 2019. By joining forces, FAO and UNIDO will leverage on
their comparative advantages, technical expertise and best practices in the areas of decent employment
creation and entrepreneurship, as well as agriculture and agribusiness value chain development. As
implementing partners in Zambia, Jacaranda Hub through OYA’s support, incubated 100 agribusinesses
who are specially focused in Aquaculture and Soya beans production. Each of the 100 agribusinesses were

furnished with best practice through the training aswell as the shared Business mindset podcast which
featured Jacaranda Hub CEO, Ms, Mara Michelo.

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