By Leah Malimbasa

Chikwawa, September 3, Mana: Business Acceleration for Youth (BA4Y) project has awarded 20 grants valued at K2, 500,000 each to highest ranked business start-ups owned by youth and women in Chikwawa.

Chikwawa District Youth Officer (DYO) McNeil Shire said successful entrepreneurs were identified through a business idea pitching session where 30 shortlisted youth and women entrepreneurs presented their business ideas to a panel of judges.

“In Chikwawa we received 394 applications 50 of which were selected to under-go a four months training by Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) which started in April 2023,” he said.

Shire said along the way three dropped out which left training with 47 participants who, upon completion, developed business plans and later pitched.

From the 47 participants, 30 were shortlisted.

He added that the 30 entrepreneurs were coached again to fine tune their business plans for a final pitch where 20 were selected for the grants worth K2,500,000 each.

“The Council is grateful to USAID and CIAT for supporting our young people with such an economic empowerment program which will also create employment to fellow youths,” said Shire who was also part of the panel of judges for the project.

Apart from Shire, the pitching panel composed of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Institute (SMEDI) representative, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) representative, a business person within Chikwawa anan independent observer from Chikwawa District Council.

CIAT Project Associate, Ramadhan Kadammanja said the organisation will conduct a series of field visits to monitor those that received the grant if they abide by what they indicated in their business plans.

He said monitoring is key to the success of the project hence the field visits.

“We understand that for a business to succeed it is not just about having finances but also the right skills and information. The project has equipped them with both finances and business skills,” he added while encouraging those that did not receive the grant to apply again.

One of the beneficiaries, Manuel Yohane, from Traditional Authority (TA) Kasisi was grateful for the grant and knowledge saying it will change his life forever.

“I will use the grant to boost my pig farming. Every penny I receive will be utilised for its intended purpose because I feel very lucky to be one of the 20 successful candidates out of the 394 who applied,” said Yohane.

The BA4Y project is funded by United States Agency for international Development (USAID) and managed by CIAT with DAPP as implementing partner.