I am happy for my students and teachers that the school is part of such a great program. So many students want to participate, they are so motivated and like the program idea – it fits to the new curriculum, and I am sure that we will form some great entrepreneurs.
Judith Naluyima, Headmistress of St. Andrews Secondary School in Uganda at the launch of the PROBONO Entrepreneurship Program
Projects
PROBONO Entrepreneurship Program
Graduated! And now? There are hardly any opportunities for further education in Tanzania and Uganda, and permanent jobs are rare in an environment with little industry and few larger service companies. Youth unemployment is high. In order to open up better future opportunities for young people, it therefore makes sense to strengthen their own economic initiative and entrepreneurial know-how.
This is where the PROBONO Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) comes in. It teaches key skills, boosts self-confidence and encourages students to set up their own businesses at a later stage.
"This is the right target group and fundamentally the right goal, namely to create productive employment for young people, almost all of whom will be self-employed," says Jann Lay, a professor at the Leibniz Institute for Global and Regional Studies, about PEP in an article in the German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau.
Read moreIn 2021, PEP was successfully launched at twelve schools in Tanzania. The young entrepreneurs' repertoire ranges from vegetable cultivation and sales to small stores and soap production to hair salons and school savings banks. Two business projects at St. Mary's Duluti School have a special focus on the environment: the young people recycle old fabric scraps and use cement mass to shape them into decorative flower pots - depending on the tastes and needs of their customers. In a second start-up, they offer decorative catering with natural materials for parties and events. Flowers and foliage instead of plastic garlands and glitter foil. PROBONO is looking forward to many more ideas in the fight against unemployment and lack of perspective!
Many thanks to the Dr. Hans Messer Foundation, the PwC Foundation and Merifin Capital/ King Baudouin Foundation for their support!
Projects
PEP enters third year in Tanzania
The PROBONO Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) in Tanzania is now entering its third and final year. As with the first two stages of the PEP project, the "Gold Level" kicked off with a workshop for teachers, which our British-Ugandan partner organization TAMTF (Teach A Man To Fish) held in Moshi in February in a competent and motivating manner. Now the teachers are taking what they have learned further to the PEP clubs at the schools, where students learn the basics of starting a business in theory and practice.
Read moreThe girls and boys have already set up a number of small school start-ups over the past two years: From snack stores and school savings banks to hair salons or a cobbler's shop to flower pot or soap production, there is something from many industries. This year, the goal is to prove that the small businesses can continue and grow on their own even after the project is over. That's why the final PEP year revolves around deepening and consolidating the business knowledge of the participating students so that they can run their businesses successfully and profitably in the long run. And, of course, that they can also use this skill and knowledge as a springboard for possibly starting their own business after school, in line with the objective of the PEP project!
Projects
International awards for PEP clubs at PROBONO partner schools
We are not the only ones to appreciate the fact that our PEP clubs have great business ideas and have successfully built up their school start-ups: In the international competition organized by "Teach A Man To Fish" (TAMTF), our British-Ugandan partner organization in the PEP program, no less than two clubs from our Tanzanian partner schools beat off competition from all over the world.
The "Student Bank" from Edmund Rice Secondary School in Arusha is one of the five winners worldwide of the award for the best business ideas from 2022. For this, the student savings bank will be supported with 200 US dollars.
Read more1,500 dollars were awarded to Dar es Salaam in the category Best Annual Report in the silver level, i.e. the second year of the three-year program. The PEP Club of Mbonea Secondary School impressed the jury with its start-up product "Mbonea Magic Liquid and Bar Soap". Our partner school was awarded among others for the clear structuring of its business report and the in-depth research of customer needs. Congratulations on these great successes!
Projects
PEP in Uganda
At the end of February 2023, the program was also launched at twelve schools in Uganda. The response of the 24 participants to the first training sessions by our local partner organization TAMTF was extremely positive: "The facilitators were really good and entertaining. They knew how to catch us," said a delighted teacher. During the week-long workshop, the teachers learned more about the three-year program. They learned how to plan and organize small student companies. Now they are looking forward to passing on their knowledge to their students and founding the first start-ups together with the young people. Many thanks to the Gerhard and Paul-Hermann Bauder Foundation, the Help Alliance and the Froschkönig Foundation for their support!