MTN Youth Skilling Program: Irene Nandyose turns pastime right into a thriving enterprise

Irene Nandyose, a enterprise administration graduate from Makerere College Kampala beloved knitting and crocheting throughout her free time on campus. And it’s via this train {that a} enterprise thought was hatched.

Irene Nandyose

However the enterprise thought was solely carried out in 2020 following coaching underneath the MTN Uganda Youth Skilling Program which goals at equipping younger individuals with entrepreneurial expertise. She co-founded the Candid Craft Card, a web based craft advertising and marketing platform, as a supply of her livelihood.

“I’m a self-taught crotchetier and I received the braveness to do that as a enterprise upon attending the MTN Youth Skilling Program as a result of I’ve all the time wished to commercialize it and earn cash out of it,” she mentioned.

“The coaching was partaking. We had been outfitted with quite a few entrepreneurial expertise beginning with thought era, screening, idea growth, product growth and, lastly, commercialization,” she mentioned.

“We had been additionally outfitted with different expertise comparable to digital advertising and marketing and e-business in order that we may market and sale our merchandise on-line, cyber safety to avert incidences of attainable fraud and communication to ease our communication with our prospects.”

Nandyose, who produces youngsters’s and swimming put on, sweaters, and purses, says the coaching outfitted her with digital, communication, and networking expertise wanted to nurture and develop Candid Craft Card.

She mentioned a sweater goes for Shs 50,000, purses Shs 45,000, swimming customs for girls Shs 35,000, and kids’s garments at Shs 25,000 every.

“I additionally embraced on-line advertising and marketing for our merchandise to succeed in out to prospects who wouldn’t have been reached on the time as a result of coronavirus pandemic,” she mentioned.

Irene Nandyose crotcheting. She was empowered to commercialise the apply throughout her coaching within the MTN Basis Youth Skilling Program

Nandyose says she has been in a position to practice different ladies in her neighbourhood on tips on how to make crafts in addition to market their merchandise on-line. She revealed that three of her trainees at the moment are incomes a residing out of constructing crafts.

“I like to recommend MTN Youth Skilling Program to different youths since it’s inclusive and appears at youth as individuals who want to realize the abilities and take them additional,” she mentioned.

She added: “I want to thank MTN Basis for the chance they’ve given us as a youth. I’m so grateful that they took it upon themselves to implement this undertaking they usually have achieved a superb job. I’m so grateful for every thing they’ve achieved.”

Bruno Oluka, the workforce chief at Ubunifu Programs that carried out the undertaking, mentioned he believes the abilities acquired are very important for the youth to run their companies.

“This has been considered one of a sort alternative and I imagine the abilities acquired ought to be capable to assist contributors of their lives and that of their communities.”

Bryan Mbasa, senior supervisor at MTN Uganda Basis mentioned they’re happy with the success recorded in the midst of implementing this system that has not solely empowered the youths however remodeled their lives.

“The youths represent the most important share of our inhabitants and there’s a have to equip them with the mandatory expertise required on this twenty first century to thrive and contribute to this financial system,” he mentioned.

MTN Basis Uganda launched its Youth Skilling Program underneath the muse arm of youth empowerment in 2020 benefiting at the least 100 out of 1,993 youth who submitted functions in preparation for the evolving digital world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This system carried out in partnership with Ubunifu methods, a software program growth agency based mostly in Uganda, concerned three phases together with the Worldwide Certificates of Digital Literacy which is acknowledged in varied nations all over the world.

The second part centred on technical skilling which included finance, accounting, human assets, and gross sales amongst others, and the ultimate part coated incubation and pitching.MTN Uganda has through the years dedicated to integrating the youth into its packages in order empower them economically.

Final month, MTN Basis in partnership with the Ministry of ICT & Nationwide Steerage, The Nationwide ICT Innovation Hub, Centenary Know-how Providers, Refactory, MUBS Entrepreneurship Innovation, and Incubation Centre, in addition to MTN’s Fintech subsidiary, MTN MoMo Uganda Restricted, launched a nationwide youth-centred financial empowerment initiative dubbed the MTN ACE.

The applying for these occupied with this system is now ongoing through https://www.mtn.co.ug/affect/mtn-ace/

MTN ACE initiative brings to the general public three MTN Basis packages that embody; the MTN ACE Tech program which focuses on upskilling the youth occupied with tech-related improvements underneath which MTN has additionally outfitted the nationwide ICT hub with state-of-the-art tools to permit innovators to prototype and incubate their concepts right into a possible enterprise.

The second program is the MTN ACE Profession program that seeks to empower recent graduates with office expertise and internship placement, and the third program is the MTN ACE Expertise program that’s tailored for the youths who’re in or out of college to equip them with entrepreneurial expertise.

The MTN basis has earmarked UGX 1.5 billion in the direction of this initiative this yr consistent with the company social duty agenda to spice up the livelihoods of the communities by which MTN operates.