Rethabile Pitso
THE Basotho Enterprise Development Corporation (BEDCO) has bemoaned the lack of innovative proposals by applicants for the Bacha Entrepreneurship Project (BEP).
BEP seeks to foster the participation of young unemployed graduates between the ages of 21 and 35 in business to help stem the spiraling unemployment by capacitating them with entrepreneurship skills. It is the result of collaboration between the Lesotho Revenue Authority Standard Lesotho Bank and BEDCO.
Of the 25 proposals initially earmarked for shortlisting, only 20 made the cut after the adjudicators deemed the rest below the expected standard.
The proposals were not limited to any particular area of interest or discipline, but were judged on the merit of their viability and longevity.
During the two-week entrepreneurial training course for the shortlisted candidates, which began on Monday, BEDCO Head Consultant, Masechaba Mahlapha, said the corporation would select to train some of the applicants whose proposals failed to make the grade.
“Out of the over 100 applications we received, only a few fulfilled the criteria, and even among the 20 we have shortlisted, there are still a few which were not really there,” Ms Mahlapha said.
Upon completing the training, the shortlisted candidates will then fine-tune and resubmit their proposals for final selection. After resubmission, three of the best proposals will then receive a combined start-up capital of M500 000 to put their plans into action.
According to Ms Mahlapha, they were surprised by “the lack of innovation” in most of the proposals.
“Since we were dealing with young people, we thought they would wow us with well thought-out ideas,” she said.
“But, unfortunately, they did not live up to our expectations. This was a constant feature in most of the proposals we assessed.”
Ms Mahlapha added that they were working on salvaging some of the proposals that had not been considered so the applicants could undergo training.
BEDCO Senior Business Consultant Makoroloso Lekhesa also said the focus of the two-week entrepreneurial training course was on teaching the applicants to develop sustainable businesses so they could also create employment.
She said some of the applicants had proposed to open service stations in remote areas, while others intended to open factories producing plastic products.
“Some of them also want to venture into the e-commerce realm as well as the textile and manufacturing industry,” she said.