Martin Endjala
True to its nature to serve and continue to improve the lives of ordinary Namibians, Mobile Telecommunications Ltd (MTC), has allocated a total of N$1.5 million for the second undertaking of the MTC 4Life project.
The project is part of MTC’s Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiative which aims to empower aspiring and existing young entrepreneurs across various trades in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector.
Launched in 2022, the socio-economic development project will provide training and upskilling programs to 40 young Namibians between the ages of 18 and 35 to gain practical and entrepreneurial skills in eight trades namely, nail artistry, brick manufacturing, animation, hairdressing, catering, sewing, baking, and barbering, respectively.
This year’s project will focus on the Otjozondjupa, Kunene, Omusati, Kavango East, and Kavango West regions, with all applicants required to be residents of these regions to be eligible for participation in the project.
The training duration is between five and ten days and the application period will remain open until 18 March 2024.
MTC’s Public Relations Officer Erasmus Nekundi, explained that this year the project will empower 40 young individuals from five regions. In contrast, last year’s applicants were from all 14 regions of the country.
However, a post-training assessment conducted in partnership with SME Compete, Nekundi stated has yielded that they use a more targeted approach to effectively streamline resources for a more impactful outcome.
Nekundi added that after the training, each candidate will receive a toolkit and capital of N$5000. This is to help them start their businesses immediately after training.
“The idea is to equip them to become self-employed citizens who will employ others later when their businesses grow,” said Nekundi.
Meanwhile, the training will be offered by professionals from the chosen fields. In each of the professions identified, MTC will partner with reputable and previously disadvantaged SME Namibian companies to train the individual candidates.
Application forms are available for download on MTC’s website. To be eligible to benefit from the MTC 4Life project, a potential candidate must be Namibian, unemployed, between 18 and 35 years old, and have at least a minimum of Grade 10. Candidates with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
