BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
THREE young entrepreneurs on Thursday 12 May were awarded grants to boost their business under the ‘Ennovation Blo Iumi program’.
EBI started in 2020. It is designed to cooperate with new businesses, ideas, together YECSI. It has three phases, education and training 8 weeks, a start-up accelerator and an incubation period.
Despite the obstacles – riots, covid19 etc… three winners have come out of all the hard-working individuals who have been part of the race.
The three winners are Empire Barber, cravings and Twice Is Nice.
Speaking during the handing over at Mendana the Australian High Commissioner, Lachie Strahan said in all single economies around the world, entrepreneurs play an absolutely central role.
“The public sector does play a very important role in every economy and it’s about setting the right framework, putting in place the right kinds of regulations, also it’s about creating a level playing field.
He said that it is always important in any economy that you give all possible entrance into the economy and equal change is vital as most jobs in the economy are generated by the private sector.
“So we come today to acknowledge young people who are making that vital contribution to generating jobs in the private sector, one of the big challenges for this country.
“As we know Solomon Islands is a young country, 70% of its population is in 35-years-old or younger and we also know that youth unemployment is a growing concern.
The handover and signing program was organised by YECSI together with Strogim Bisnis and AUSAID.
Key speakers include YECSI Coordinator, Maverick Seda, Australian High Commissioner, strongim Bisnis, Gianluca, YECSI vice-chairman Limahl Totogi and EBI2.0 winners’ rep, Ilalina Bisili.
Giving special remarks on behalf of the winners’ ilalina Bisili said she cannot express how thankful and grateful they are as this is a very big opportunity for them.
“On behalf of the EBI2.0 winners, I would like first and foremost thank YECSI, strongim Bisnis for your continuous support in organising this program in supporting young entrepreneurs in SI.
She also acknowledges the presence of the Australian and New Zealand High commission as well as YECSI and other distinguishing guests who mentored them to their success.
“As young entrepreneurs, it is such a huge achievement for us as we can now invest and expand our business in running our business operations,’’ said Bisili.
She said that even with the covid-19 and other challenges faced, they manage to go through and finish the EBI program.
She said that EBI is a great learning tool and from this program, they can network with other participants and drive young people, especially those who want to venture into a business here in SI.
“This is a very great potential for us here in the Solomon Islands,’’ echoed Bisili.
“Overall we have a small promo here, if you want to get a great hair-cut from a professional go to Empire Barbar (Julian), if you just want to shop online for clothes just check out our Instagram page or Facebook at ‘Twice Is Nice’ (Ebony) and last of all if you want great tasting cakes (birthday cakes, etc) just check out Cravings on FB and Instagram,’’ said Bisili.
According to Strongim Bisnis Rep-Gianluca Nardi, the EBI is very interesting and gave a lot of hope about its outcome.
“This one is been the second edition of the EBI. There is the first EBI in 2019 and 2020. There is an evolution in the thinking behind this,’’ uttered Gianluca.
He told winners and participants that there has been a major process that led to the designing of the business plan for each of the participants and in the first edition of the EBI, there was according to the survey, a 100% satisfaction rate by the participants.
“That means all the participants whether winners or not, are improving their way of doing business and were able to make better entrepreneurship endeavours after the EBI.
“So the EBI is not just about the winners but it’s about the process, and that is in empowering the youth here in Solomon Islands,’’ he said.
He adds that this also makes us very hopeful for the sustainability of the EBI because we see that YECSI is evolving.
“There is more and more interest from the private sector in this initiative and we can see that regardless of Strongim business support or not this will continue to move forward.
“It’s also great to see in this edition that there been a real innovation, real development in the digital space as most of the business had an element of digital marketing of making contacts with their customers.
“All of the winners I believe are also in that space so this shows the evolution that is happening in the country and sees how their business behaviour is moving in a certain direction,’’ concluded Gianluca.
