LAUNCHING THE "OUT OF SCHOOL YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMME"

Have confidence in your abilities, Mengi tells youths

IPP Executive Chairman Dr. Reginald Mengi has urged youths in the country to place confidence in their own abilities and seek to become number one in performing various beneficial economic activities. Dr. Mengi who is also the chairman of the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) made the call yesterday in Dar es Salaam when officiating the launching of the programme for youths known as ‘Out of school youth empowerment programme’. The youth empowerment programme is an initiative which is run by partners among them Barclays Bank, ILO Tanzania Office, the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) and Nkwamira, an NGO responsible for organizing youths. The partners contribute to the programme by empowering youths in formal economic activities, mostly those who have finished Form Four and Form Six, drawn from Dar es Salaam. In his speech Dr. Mengi cautioned youths who had gathered in the occasion not to take poverty as the problem facing their lives, but rather they should take it as a challenge of emancipating them from where they are and move forward. “You should work hard. There is no shortcut in life as it is described in the holy books and if you have the spirit of getting out of poverty you will make it to success,” he told the youths. He further cited an example of himself that he grew up in dire poverty but took it as a challenge for success. Youths should make a commitment in what they are doing and have eyes which see opportunities ahead, and never give up in whatever they plan for their future, the noted entrepreneur emphasised. He explained to the youths some of his life experiences as a way of motivating them to not give up, telling the gathering that he was in the process of writing a book titled “I can, I must, I will” as an illustration of what self determination is all about. The training programme will empower youths with skills on how to start and manage small businesses, financial management, Information Communication and Technology (ICT) and interpersonal skills to run businesses. For a start about 200 youths will participate in the program.The event was also attended by program partners including the International Labor Organization (ILO) which will provide experts for the training, hosted by COSTECH at its Kijitonyama premises. George Mulamula, Chef Executive Officer of Dar Teknohama Business Incubator (DTBI) operating under COSTECH, said that youths should be creative so as to win in the competition characterising entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurship environment is always changing, requiring creativity to match with the changing local and wider environment, he said. Neema Rose Singo, the Barclays head of marketing and communications said the bank’s ambition is to empower five million disadvantaged young people with the skills they need to achieve economic independence and security. This can be done by equipping them with financial, entrepreneurship and life skills, she said.  The bank has invested Sh.120 million to facilitate the program for disadvantaged youth in Dar es Salaam and Morogoro regions, the bank official noted. Nkwamira director Noreen Mazalla said successful candidates after training will be given seed capital to establish businesses whilst other training beneficiaries will be placed in various entities to ensure that their newly acquired skills are properly utilized. In another development, IPP Executive Chairman Dr Reginald Mengi has raised corporate motivational payment for monthly best workers for each constituent company from Sh500,000 to one million shillings. Addressing corporate employees in the group annual gathering at Kunduchi Beach Hotel yesterday, Dr Mengi urged IPP employees to keep up the spirit of working hard and efficiently, to which he set out the motivational uplift.   The overall best worker for the year will be awarded two million instead of one million as was the case earlier, while also promising Sh200,000 for all employees as a motivation bonus annually. Those picked as best workers for the year and awarded one million shillings are Poul Urio  and Abbas Sadiki of  ITV and Radio One , James Hossen of IPP head offices, Godfrey Bitesigilwa of IPP Resources Ltd and Mary Mbikilwa of The Guardian Ltd. Other selected workers are Engineer John Nyalapa who was promised two million shillings for reviving the transmitter for ITV/Radio One broadcasting station, its purchasing value cited as around $20,000.