Catalisa continues to provide support and assistance to young people with business initiatives, with the aim of improving their personal income. The last newsletter edition showed that there are many young people with the capacity to create and manage successful businesses, with José Siconimoda winning the Best Business Plan Award in Montepuez and Maria Zito Armando in Pemba, in the 7th edition of the Business Plan Competition (BPC, 2022).
The new season of BPC, 2022 began on September 8 of this year, with the participation of 17 young people, 5 women and 12 men, from the cities of Pemba and Montepuez.
During the competition, young people receive seed capital, to test their business ideas, as well as assistance for the testing process and drafting of their business plans, to then present and defend in the final pitch in front of a jury that evaluates and decides on the best plans and awards prizes. The award is intended for young people who graduated from the course aimed at providing life skills, employability and entrepreneurship know-how at the Catalisa Youth Center in Palma between 2019 and 2021.
In the last BPC edition, the young participants invested in businesses such as grocery stores, credit sales, used clothing sales, catering and services, and in this one, the new entrepreneurs are showing an emergence of new ideas, such as investing in locksmiths and hairdressing salons.
Since the first BPC round, held in 2019, some 79 participants have benefited from support and assistance in drafting business plans, of which 25 were women and 54 were men. Of the total number of those who received assistance in drafting business plans, 65 (22 women and 43 men) also received financial assistance (seed capital for testing their business ideas and startups) in the form of a prize for winners and other participants.
Prizes range from $2,000, $1,500 and $1,000 dollars, respectively, for the first 3 places and $400 dollars for participants who, not having won the first 3 places, have at least managed to keep their businesses running. The seed capital for testing the business ideas is $300.
