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IDEA program Zambia
Promotion of youth entrepreneurship in agribusiness for economic development
IDEA Program Zambia provides incubation training and mentorship to 20 entrepreneurs developing resilient businesses.
Funded by
Stronger value chains
Small-scale farmers are the main producers of food in Zambia and meet an estimated 80 percent of the country’s food needs. Although the food security situation in the country is generally stable, the capacity of farmers to increase their production is constrained by the high cost of farming inputs, limited agricultural infrastructure and service provision, poor post-harvest storage, and little access to credit for these farmers.
IDEA Program Zambia is developed with the Opportunities for Youth in Africa (OYA) Programme, a joint initiative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). OYA aims at accelerating job creation and entrepreneurship in agriculture and agribusiness. As such, one of the areas of action of the OYA Programme is to provide capacity-building to youth and incubation centers through demand-driven technical and vocational training.
How does the model work?
OYA set two IDEA Centers to be our implementation partners and undergo a “Training of Trainers” program that builds their entrepreneurship program management and strengthen their incubation capacity. This training consists of 6 sessions covering topics from creating a mentors network, mastering the IDEA platform to facilitating best practices.
Bridge for Billions, in collaboration with the OYA Programme, develops incubation programmes with 2 IDEA centers: JacarandaHub and SensXAfrica.
With the collaboration of program partners, 20 Zambian entrepreneurs and 56 local and international mentors were selected to participate in the IDEA Program. All of them were trained and onboarded during Kickoff Day.
As part of the program, all founders access structured guidance in 8 business tools, constant support from the incubation management team, personalized weekly mentorship, and a global community of founders, workshops, and sectorial resources.
JacarandaHub and SensXAfrica provide local support and knowledge to the founders, additional in-person workshops and resources, and physical space for founders to work from.
Entrepreneurs work in teams to develop their businesses while working weekly with volunteer mentors through the IDEA platform.
Once the program is complete entrepreneurs have bankable and validated business plans and a support network to continue their entrepreneurial journey.
Our impact in Zambia
20
entrepreneurs were accepted into the program
15%
of enterprises belong to female founders
14
enterprises will still be active 1 year after the program has ended
60
jobs will have been created two years after the program has ended
17
mentors were accepted into the program
Where are the entrepreneurs’ from?
Entrepreneurship support everywhere
Entrepreneurship opportunities for all
Sectors of the entrepreneurs
Some of the entrepreneurs and mentors from IDEA Program Zambia
Entrepreneurs
Bio Green Technology
Bio Green Technology is a youth-led start-up that focuses on finding sustainable solutions to the problems in the energy sector. One of their products is biogas derived from agricultural and household food waste.
They won the University of Zambia Hult prize.
Niza Zulu
Bio Green Technology Founder
FEBI Smart System
FEBI Smart Systems is a water quality monitoring system that will be able to record readings in a fish pond to give fish farmers more control.
They have been recognised by Aquaculture experts in their country and are registered at PACRA
Mukonka Nkamu
FEBI Smart System Founder
Savannah Zambia
Savannah Zambia is an organization that means to mitigate poverty in rural areas through smart agriculture, fishing, and horticulture.
They have a partnership with the government to build fish ponds country-wide and were they receive machinery and technical support for their business.
Nkole Mwamba
Savannah Zambia Founder
Junior Agripreneur Hub Africa
Their program intends to make students realise how they can be solution providers in answering african agriculture value chain bottlenecks.
They have reached 40 schools and won the Entrepreneurship Award on the National Education Expo.
Nkosilathi Brian Luzikani
Junior Agripreneur Hub Africa Founder
Mentors
Zambia
Investments Officer at Development Bank of Zambia
Motivation: “I have ways been passionate about ensuring access to finance for SMEs. […] I feel that there is need to make SMEs realize that they are key to national growth.”
Zambia
Cofounder and CEO of PremierCredit Zambia Limited
Motivation: “I’m passionate about entrepreneurship and building others, helping others dream big, realize their dreams on their Entrepreneurship journey.”
Zambia
Deputy Head of Investments – Mining, Manufacturing, & Agribusiness at Industrial Development Corporation
Motivation: “I believe entrepreneurs are the key to unlocking the potential of the continent at scale. Africa today is at the precipice of what many consider a demographic dividend; however, we are not creating the kind of sustainable businesses required to take advantage of the continent’s young and vibrant population, and labour pool at-scale.”
Zambia
Country Representative at African Circular Economy Network and Lead Consultant at Tandem Circular Consulting
Motivation: “I enjoy mentoring and seeing entrepreneurs and their ideas develop and grow. This is also in line with my personal mission: to develop a more circular economy in Africa. I can’t do much alone so through mentoring entrepreneurs we can have more impact collectively.”
With the support of
UNIDO and Bridge for BIllions designed each entrepreneurship program taking into account the most critical value chains for each country, and found entrepreneurs working on the most critical challenges for the sector with the support of local IDEA Centers.
Lusaka, Zambia
Jacaranda Hub
Program Administrator
Greyford Mwase
Jacaranda Hub is a non-profit organization that aims at developing young people through the provision of collective services, infrastructure, and specialized tools and equipment for common use among the young and aspiring MSMEs with growth potential.
Lusaka, Zambia
SensXAfrica
Program Administrator
Bernard Robson Phiri
Their overarching vision is the sustainable development of an African entrepreneurship ecosystem and interactive education on how to launch, build and scale African businesses in times of economic growth.
See what incubation managers say
“This training I received as Incubation Manager and the program we operated in Guinea was an amazing experience.At first we had fears about doing an incubation program mostly online but actually the participants found it very well structured and the tools really changed their mindset.
Having access to a diverse pool of mentors has also been invaluable. I learned a lot and I’d like to do another such program myself, and see it replicated in other countries.”
Mohamed Lamine MagassoubaProgram Manager from Jathropha Hub IDEA CenterHaving access to a diverse pool of mentors has also been invaluable. I learned a lot and I’d like to do another such program myself, and see it replicated in other countries.”
We are looking for partners!
IDEA Program Zambia is on the lookout for public and private institutional partners and donors to make the program sustainable and amplify its impact over the next few years. Send us an email and make a difference in developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem of your country or region.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) partnered with Bridge for Billions to create IDEA, an online program to connect young entrepreneurs with mentors from all over the world to accelerate the growth of new entrepreneurship communities and foster an entrepreneurial culture.
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