Education Zimbabwe Project #50554

Develop 2,000 future business leaders in Zimbabwe

by Emergination Africa

Develop 2,000 future business leaders in Zimbabwe

Project Report | Dec 5, 2023
Virtual Innovation Accelerator 2022-23 Progress

By Yolanda Million | Report Submitter

Emergination Africa (EA) is committed to nurturing a new generation of entrepreneurs who are equipped to tackle both current and future challenges and opportunities in Africa.

Recently, EA facilitated a retrospective meeting for the 2021-2022 Virtual Innovation Accelerator(VIA) Cohort. This meeting provided an opportunity for the cohort to update the team on their vision, challenges, and opportunities they’ve encountered so far. It was inspiring to see their renewed motivation after the session, drawing inspiration from each other and reminding themselves of their responsibility to ensure the success of their ventures. We appreciate their commitment to driving positive change in Africa and creating self-sustainable solutions to the continent’s rising challenges.

One of our VIA 2022 Alumni, Tadiwanashe Makamure of Verde Agri Solutions, shared her VIA Experience quoting:

“I was passionate about entrepreneurship and organisation. I got a taste of what it truly meant to be part of a team, it made it clearer what and how I envisioned myself as a young business leader. It was a mix of very big highs and very deep lows. What will remain engraved in my memory is that at each step of the way it never felt lonely, the Emergination Africa team provided me with support. I also communicated and created networks with some leading figures in Zimbabwe's business scene, I talked about my product at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair and I created partnerships for life with all the other people in my VIA cohort. In all, I wouldn't trade anything for my VIA experience.”

We’re excited to see their ventures thrive in the future and will continue to provide support wherever possible.

Another highlight for EA in the 3rd quarter was hosting the 2023 National Business Case Competition finals. This platform allowed learners from across Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces to pitch their ideas and potentially be part of the Virtual Innovation Accelerator (VIA) Program, where they receive seed capital to work on their ventures. The VIA program fosters creativity, collaboration, and entrepreneurship among young people in Zimbabwe, offering them the opportunity to learn from the best mentors and experts in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship.

During the 2023 NBCC national finals, 5 teams were selected to be part of the VIA program and were paired with global advisors for guidance throughout the program.

On November 17, 2023, EA launched the VIA program for 2023-2024 with training workshops for the 5 incoming VIA teams. These workshops equipped the teams with the information and resources needed to start incubating their ventures, directly impacting 408 learners.

We’re eagerly anticipating the performance of our students in this accelerator and the valuable insights they will gain from their interactions with advisors and experts from diverse industry sectors.

Attachments:

Develop_1000_Future_Business_Leaders_in_Zimbabwe_50554.pdf (PDF)

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Aug 8, 2023
Virtual Innovation Accelerator 2023

By Yolanda Million | Project Manager

Introduction

Emergination Africa takes pleasure in updating you of the activities that took place in the 2nd quarter of 2023. We mainly focussed on the Global Venture Accelerator program. Our Global Venture Accelerator is a program that helps young people develop the skills, tools, and connections they need to succeed in the global market. These are developed through training, mentoring, and provision of opportunities to create and launch their own products. It is a platform where learners accelerate their innovative ideas into operating ventures with the assistance of virtual advisement from global and local advisors. The teams go through four phases of the program namely Prepare, Pitch, Realize and Learn. This past quarter the teams were in their realize phase and have been undertaking advisement sessions held weekly over various online platforms to ensure continued engagement and knowledge, and skills transfer between advisors and venture teams. Through the program, venture teams are also channelled to key industries to gain experience and knowledge that is critical to the growth of their ventures. During the last 3 months, learner teams have gained invaluable knowledge and skills that shape both their ventures and their individual growth through the events that we organised for them. Below are some of the events that were attended by our venture teams.

Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF)

All venture teams from 2021 and 2022 had an opportunity to attend the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) from the 24th to the 28th of April 2023. The ZITF is the leading international exhibition organizer in Zimbabwe. Their exhibitions and events are the first place where industry trends, ideas and innovative products are unveiled. 13 teams participated in this event, showing their products and prototypes. Many teams made meaningful connections at the ZITF with other teams partnering with big companies to offer their products and services to. Below are some of the partnerships that were secured at the ZITF: Agrabbit Private Limited a 2022 VIA alumni team which is producing fertilizer from rabbit urine and droppings secured a trial partnership with SEEDCO, (Seed Co Zimbabwe is a leading producer and marketer of certified crop seeds in Zimbabwe. They supply hybrid maize seed to commercial farmers as well as wheat, soya bean, barley, sorghum and groundnut seed). Caenda Cycles, also a 2022 VIA alumni team partnered with the City of Harare for the creation of cycle tracks for pilot testing of their Cycles. Pured a 2021 VIA alumni team managed to secure a partnership with branding and marketing company for the branding of their packaging material.

Kurima Demo Day

The teams also managed to attend the Kurima Machinery Demo Day on the 16th of June 2023.The event was organised for the teams to pitch and enhance synergies between ventures in the agricultural sector and technologies available. Kurima is a company that provides African smallholder farmers with affordable machinery to improve productivity. The teams who are into agriculture and food processing benefited as they got their opportunity to see machines that can work in their ventures.

Via Circles

The teams participating have also managed to impact other learners in their schools through organized VIA circles. 850+ learners were directly impacted through these VIA circles. All 2022 venture teams have managed to conduct 22 comprehensive field visits within their industries for testing and standardisation. 120 progressive hours invested by advisors in learners. Crucial soft skills were learnt (time management, stress management, relationship building, leadership, managerial development, sales training, negotiation techniques and customer service) through the networking events that were organised for them.

Attachments:

Developing_1000_future_business_leaders_in_Zimbabwe_50554..pdf (PDF)

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Apr 11, 2023
VIA Impact Update

By James Tinashe Chakanyuka | Senior Operations Manager

The entrepreneurial journey is not easy but worth taking nonetheless.This is why we are so delighted to share with you how our learner venture teams are progressing.

In January all our Class of 2022 Virtual Innovation Accelerator teams managed to register their companies and are now legally recognised entities in the business fraternity. This is a huge milestone for these young entrepreneurs as they advance towards equal participating opportunity in the economy. Company registration for the ventures means the ability to trade thereby allowing them to openly operate and market their products.

The teams also started connecting with advisors who are keenly assisting them to transition their projects from being mere ideas to thriving ventures. The learner teams acknowledge the value that comes from the advice, experience and networks that the advisors are providing.

Emergination Africa introduced Incubation and Learn sessions to support emerging entrepreneurs and immerse them in the company of local industry. This came from the realization that the life of entrepreneurs needs constant support from individuals that believe in them. The Incubation and Learn sessions are designed to create opportunities for our ventures to create new synergies with local businesses that will boost their growth rate by bringing local knowledge, operating experience and market opportunities.

To start with, the Emergination Africa team hosted a Physical meetup to determine the needs of the teams. This was fruitful as it bridged the gap left by virtual meetings. Using Venture teams' feedback, successfully launched our first Incubation and Learn session dubbed 'Venture Accelerator Pitch Night' on the 30th of March 2023. The event was well attended with 12 teams from our business ventures displaying their prototypes and pitching their products to respected members of the business community in Zimbabwe. Key businesses that were part of this session include Pro Feeds ,Zim Trade and Deloitte Zimbabwe to name a few. The event was also graced by the Germany Deputy Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Michel Ott. The pitch night was worth all the effort as it exposed learners to an engaging crowd which shared invaluable insights for improving their businesses in order to thrive in this cut throat economy.There was also a networking session where learners and guests connected to find collaboration for growing the new ventures. EA is excited to share that some companies and individual business persons have opened doors for potential partnerships with the learner ventures.

To top off our 1 Quarter of 2023, Five of our Eight VIA teams from our first VIA ventures class of 2021 were accepted into the finals of the Anzisha Prize and are already busy with their assignments. The Anzisha Prize is an initiative between Mastercard Foundation and African Leadership Academy. Through its three-year fellowship program, young business owners have the opportunity to scale their businesses and gain business acumen through expert coaches. Just to add some context, Emergination Africa applied for the Anzisha Prize back in 2015 but unfortunately we could not make it to the finals. To be able to see these learners get further than us is a dream come true. We applied to Anzisha in our 4th year of university, our learners are applying in their 1st and 2nd year of university. If they are able to get further ahead and faster than we did, it's testimony that our programs are making a positive impact.

Thank you for being part of our vision of seeing an African continent where all young people can create opportunities for themselves and others.

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