Highlights of the First AYP’s NUL Entrepreneuship Expo 2018

By Relebohile Sera

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The Academic Youth Progress hosted its first annual NUL Entrepreneurship Expo on the 13th April 2018 at the National University of Lesotho. The theme of this expo was “Turning a Buying Society into a Producing Society”.

Among the present was the Vice Chancellor of the National University of Lesotho; the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Small Business Development, Cooperatives and Marketing; representatives from Post Bank, BEDCO, LRA ; and the NUL community at large.

In his welcoming remarks, the Vice Chancellor of the National of Lesotho, Professor Nqosa Mahao, indicated that with the increasing rate of unemployment in Lesotho from 26.54% to 27.54% it is imperative that the NUL community does something about it. He thus applauded the AYP for the first step they have taken already to make an impact in their community.

Prof. Nqosa delineated some of the projects which NUL is already undertaking to ensure that its students leave the university with something tangible to fall back on should situations render it necessary after completion of their studies.

He also indicated that the most sought after profession right now is in the sciences (technology, engineering, etc) and that the management of NUL has plans to ensure that science graduates are the majority.

He further added that they also have preparations underway to include entrepreneurship, either as a skill set or a course, integrated across all disciplines in the academic year 2018/19.

Kopano Sekhoari, chairman and co-founder of AYP outlined plans they intend to carry out to ensure that not only the NUL community but every Mosotho youth benefits from their services.

They have three projects, with some of them already in progress, they intend to put in place. The first one is where they visit high school and give out career advice to the students.

Secondly, they organize seminars to empower other youth about entrepreneurship and the last one which will be in the form of entrepreneurship expos held annually which are intended to, among other things, enlighten students on the importance of supporting and buying locally produced goods.

The representative from LRA, Mr Mohale Motenalapi, shared about the taxation processes, registration with them and the implications taxation has on individuals as well as corporations. Post Bank shared on the loan options they have for youth in business, savings options, and business banking.

The Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Small Businesses, Mr Lerata Pekane, shed a light on how they’re making doing business easy in Lesotho while BEDCO shared on how they help youth in business.

There were about 20 stalls of Basotho youth displaying their products; from organic petroleum jelly, dried fruits, organic bath soaps to hand-carved egg trays. The expo was a success brimming with a lot of possibilities for the Basotho youth. The event’s sponsors were Selibeng.com and DOPE FM.

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