Chronicle Editor
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
A TOtTAL of US$ 41 000 and furniture worth US$ 7 000 has been pledged under a fund being set up by corporates in both private and public sectors to assist young entrepreneurs around the country to start up their ventures.
The fund which will be launched soon came up as an initiative during the Young Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) business forum 2021 which is being held in Nyanga.
Running under the theme, “Rethinking Entrepreneurship in a fast-changing world: New Approaches, Fresh Opportunities,” the Young CEOs business forum is being hosted by the CEO Africa Roundtable, a high-level platform for corporate chief executive officers, senior executives, in both private and public sector. It was created to enable cross-fertilisation of critical economic and business knowledge in and around Africa.
During a capital raising-venture capital discussion, CEO Africa Roundtable board member, Mr Kenias Mafukidze who was moderating proposed that corporates present at the business forum come up with a fund as venture capital for young entrepreneurs.
“Why not start a fund not tomorrow or in the near future but today. If corporates here can put something like US$50 000 on the table it can be a foundation which can even raise the funds to about US$ 100 000 to put the young entrepreneurs dream into action.
“With about 50 people here if each can say l pledge US$ 1 000 and with the various experts here from lawyers, financers, financial advisers, CEOs, managing directors among others we can start this fund and do it properly,” said Mr Mafukidze.
Corporates which were present at the business forum and those who were also joining virtually started pouring in their pledges which accounted to US$ 41 000 and furniture worth US$ 7 000. Others offered their services to train the entrepreneurs for free, resource mobilisation, law expertise, technological initiatives, banking services, venture capital raising and financing assistance, among others.
Mr Mafukidze added: “Today can mark the day we started the venture and change the profile of this country. In the next two to three months we can then start to call upon youths who have ideas that need funding throughout the whole country.”
He also noted that there was need to set up a board after the meeting that will look at how the fund will work, formulate a structure of putting the idea into a practical one.
Mr Mafukidze highlighted that the whole idea was that of sowing a seed like that will develop the next “Strive Masiyiwa” among young entrepreneurs in the country so that they could also become the next billionaires.
“By the time this business forum seminar ends we are looking to be having pledges way above US$50 000. As it has been said earlier by Dr Lance Mambondiani, the time of the youths is now. This is the time for them to develop initiatives that will see them far in the future,” he added.
The CEO Africa Roundtable chief executive officer, Mr Kipson Gundani said the pledges could even grow.
“What was pledged here in Nyanga cannot be a true indication of what the size of the fund can be. This was just an initial call that we made to the delegates to say if you talk to many young entrepreneurs one of their biggest concerns is access to capital. But here we are CEOs, business leaders and of which if we can work together, we can pull up resources and invest in young people.
“And today we raised around US$49 000 but these are pledges and secondly the idea is to run a very big fund with other corporates around the country joining forces. We have put up a transitional board to oversee the process of setting up the deployment of the funds and all the mechanisms that are needed to put it in place before we can even call for additional money to come into the fund,” said Mr Gundani.
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