Martin conducts computer lessons

Today, we had our first computer lesson with 20 youth who are part of the All Out Africa Enterprise Development program. These lessons include basic computer introduction, website creation, how to run a business online and website hosting. 

The computer lessons are conducted by our partner Prime Digital Technology PTY Ltd, Prime Digital Technology is a full-service tech solutions and digital marketing agency based in Eswatini Southern Africa. “We hope and believe that these lessons will help their businesses thrive and help them run efficiently,” said Martin the Founder of Prime Digital.

Enterprise students during computer lessons

We are delighted to see the progress that the program has had, a special thanks to our partners for making all of this possible your support never goes unnoticed. 

SIYABONGA KAKHULU! 

An aspiring bean farmer Melusi Phiri presents his business idea

As many of you may know, in present-day Eswatini among the youth there is an unemployment rate ranging from 40%-70% throughout the kingdom, something that has only been exacerbated by the covid pandemic. Whilst attending the classes, I have tried to do my best to research and present ideas that may be of relevance to my classmates, ideas centred around building a profitable and efficient startup. Below is a passage taken from the research I did for the class.

‘When you start a business it is important to look for potential investors. They can be useful for a number of reasons. Firstly, they will provide seed capital to start the business. Secondly, they assist in business planning for a startup. Thirdly, they are profit-oriented, hence they will ensure that capital is invested in the correct way and can be consulted with. There are a number of investors in Eswatini who offer such services. The Small Enterprises Development Company (SEDCO) is a Government supported organisation established in 1970 with the mandate to create, develop and promote Small, Micro & Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) throughout the Kingdom of Eswatini. This makes it one of the largest and most reputable investors. The Industrial Development Company Of Eswatini (IDCE) is another example of a well-known lender that offers agricultural, corporate and SME, Small and Medium enterprises, and loans.

SME loans are targeted and suitable for every sector of the economy for purposes of funding goods or services required by the business. An example of the terms for an SME loan from Industrial
Development Company of Eswatini are:
Minimum: E10 000 (Swazi Lilangeni)
Maximum: E1.5 million
Repayment Period: 3 – 5 years
Security: should be able to cover 100% of the total debt

Promoter’s Contribution: a minimum of 20% of the total project total cost

Although attracting investors is important for any startup, my research has not been restricted specifically to this in my time here. The topics in the past three weeks have ranged from the importance of networking to the standards for morally right and wrong conduct in business, such as the battle of legal vs ethical. A lot of my research centred around how to conduct and submit a coherent business plan, as this is what the majority of students here were most absorbed with, in the last few weeks. I managed to highlight different aspects of an effective business plan; such as the importance of primary and secondary research in a SWOT analysis, and all-encompassing competitor analysis.

Mr Mike Roach shares his experience and guidance with the young entrepreneurs

This is not to say that when conducting my research everything proceeded steadily 100% of the time. Although most of the time proceedings ran smoothly, the most notable obstacle I encountered was finding ways to keep the points that I was expressing relevant in the context of Eswatini. In order to help myself accomplish this, I found what helped me most was identifying examples of entrepreneurs who had succeeded themselves in the kingdom. Eswatini has a history of creating successful entrepreneurs itself, most notably the likes of Sanele Dlamini and Phiwa Nkambule. Sanele Dlamini established her clothing retail and beauty business, Flexy, from a need to create an economic future for herself; Despite graduating with a Bcom degree, she found that after university she couldn’t find reliable employment. Now she collects fashion pieces from all around the world and sells them in Eswatini and a few surrounding countries such as Mozambique and South Africa. On the other hand, Phiwa Nkambule is a technology entrepreneur and internet activist best known for co-founding Riovic and leading it as its CEO. He previously founded Cybatar and sat on the board of the Royal Science and Technology Park in Eswatini. In June 2018, Phiwa was named in the Forbes Africa 30 under 30 list of most promising entrepreneurs in the technology category, and in October 2018 named in Destiny Man’s Power of 40 lists, a list of 40 trailblazers under the age of 40.

The Honorable British High Commissioner was pleased with the business ideas shared on the day.

Having already heard the ideas behind the businesses here, I feel assured that some definitely have the facilities to become successful in the future, following in the steps of these two. Ideas ranged from selling electrical services to exporting poultry abroad as far as the UAE as well as developing a mobile system where patients are more easily able to track their daily symptoms; thus grossly helping medical professionals in diagnosing ailments quicker and supplying cures more efficiently. What has become clear in my short stint is that this is a deeply resourceful group of young adults who definitely want to ameliorate their future, and I have felt fortunate to learn from them and try to help them in any way I can.

Nonetheless, this summary wouldn’t be complete without me mentioning one of the highlights of the past 3 weeks, having the opportunity to have Mr Kim Roques, Mr Mike Roach and the honourable British High Commissioner, Mr Simon Boyden share their experience and guidance they had for the young entrepreneurs. I honestly believe that their words struck a chord with the young adults in the group and that they will heed their advice in the near future. I would not be surprised that if I was to return in 5 years’ time, I would see many of these businesses prospering with the effort having been put in.

Written by Pama Alexander, Microfinance intern 

Under 15 boys Basketball tournament pre-Covid 19.

Our Sports Development Project in Eswatini aims to improve the well-being of disadvantaged children and youth within the semi-rural Swazi communities, through sports, play and education. The aim is to engage these children in activities that stimulate and focus them and keep them fit and healthy, while at the same time building their confidence through physical activity.

All our social projects are guided by the SDGs and this include the sports development program.

The contributions of our sports development program to the SDGs is outlined in this overview below:

Goal 1. End poverty

With the unemployment rate at over 40% in the Kingdom of Eswatini jobs are hard to come by especially for the youth. Our sports development program acts as a platform to create some employment opportunities and lift some Emaswati out of poverty leading to larger economic participation in the country, this is both through direct employment on the project and through empowering kids with the social and life skills necessary for a self-reliant and sustainable livelihood. Lastly, it helps immensely in raising awareness and facilitating the mobilization of needed resources to alleviate poverty through partnerships with local and international bodies.

Goal 3. Good Health and Wellbeing

The Kingdom of Eswatini has the world’s highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates, with approximately 31% of the population being infected. In 2010 it was estimated that there were close to 200,000 orphaned children in the Kingdom due to HIV/AIDS. In most households, children go through some hardships which disturb their mental health and engaging them in sports helps them ward off depression. Our sports development program helps in reducing the risk of contracting diseases by strengthening cardiovascular and physical health and can contribute to tackling and preventing emotional and psychological stress. We run weekly sports days for pre-school aged vulnerable children at community Neighborhood Care Points (NCPs) in Eswatini. With activities including playing ball games, relay running races, sack races, dance games, Hoola hoop games and more, these activities have a positive impact on the children and healthy adolescent development and well-being.

Neighbourhood Care Points (NCPs) weekly sports days pre-Covid 19.

Our weekly football league for Under 13 and Under 15 boys has been a viable platform for health and emotional wellbeing,  particularly to disseminate information on sexual and reproductive health, alcohol and substance abuse, as well as communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

Goal 4. Quality education

Our weekly sports days at the community Neighborhood Care Points have been very helpful in improving learning outcomes by fostering academic performance and achievement, leadership abilities, educational opportunities and life skills to be used beyond school including the workplace. By taking part in sports and physical activities alongside school, students are exposed to the sport’s key values, including teamwork, fair play, respect for the rules and others, cooperation, discipline and tolerance. The children and young people at our neighbourhood care points benefit tremendously from the sports project because the skills we equipped them with are essential for future participation in group activities and professional life and can stimulate social cohesion within communities and societies. We also organize afternoon homework clubs to assist struggling young teenagers with their homework and grades to improve education for those that need it.

Goal 5. Gender equality

We host a weekly football league for Under 13 and 15 aged boys, a football knockout tournaments for Under 15 girls and a Basketball tournament for girls and boys. These have been a powerful platform for advocacy and raising awareness for gender equality.

Under 15 Girls Basketball tournament pre-Covid 19.

Goal 10. Reduced inequalities

We invest in the education of vulnerable children and support women and girls to participate in sports at the junior level and we develop policies to reduce inequality at various levels. Our volunteer programs are aimed at cultural immersion to improve understanding and tolerance and create opportunities for those stuck in a poverty trap.

Goal 17. Partnership for the goals

Through our sports project, we have been able to build and strengthen the relationship with our local (Hhohho Regional Football Association, schools, communities, the government of Eswatini) and international partners (BOOST, Volunteers) who are continuously helping us achieve the goals mentioned above.

NCP children with a sports volunteer pre-Covid 19.

The 17 SDGs were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. In the next few months, we will be sharing how our volunteering programs and the work we are doing, helps to support each of these 17 goals.

All Out Africa volunteer helping a primary school child with his school work pre-COVID.

Education in Eswatini (Eswatini) before COVID-19

Education in Eswatini (Eswatini) before COVID-19 was widely accessible but left plenty of room for improvement. Adult literacy in Eswatini was 88% in 2018 which is well above the average of 65% in sub-Saharan Africa, but below the average of 98% in Europe and Central Asia in 2018. The quality of education needs improvement. In southern Africa, 80% of ten-year-olds are not able to read and understand a simple story – known as learning poverty. Enrollment in High school in Eswatini is around 82%  and of these the dropout rate is about 14%. A major challenge for the parents and guardians of many high school students in Eswatini is the relatively high cost of high school education. Unicef identifies a number of challenges in Eswatini contributing to the high drop-out rates of high school students, including:

• pregnancy,
• the high cost of secondary education,
• high levels of sexual violence, and
• Continuing use of corporal punishment of school children.

Education in Eswatini (Eswatini) and COVID-19, a lost year

In March 2020 the Government of Eswatini (in line with many other countries) declared a state of national disaster owing to the Coronavirus Pandemic and closed down a range of operations including schools. Schools in sub-Saharan Africa shut for an average of 23 weeks. However, schools in Eswatini remained shut for a whole year.

Children from Ezulwini Neighbourhood Care Point.

While efforts have been made to offer some form of education to the thousands of children needing it in Eswatini, lack of access to devices and the high cost of the internet (one of the highest in the world has prevented most children from learning during this time. We have lost a year of education in Eswatini. What is the impact of this? It has yet to be determined but is likely a devastating blow setting many children in Eswatini at a distinct disadvantage.

The impact of a break-in Education

For now, the impact of the school closures in Eswatini on children’s education is not known. A study of children affected by an earthquake in 2005 in Pakistan found that classrooms closing for 3 months resulted in children falling behind by one and a half years. Eswatini should focus a concerted effort on catching up on the lost education of the past year and capitalize on any opportunities to improve the level of education.

Hope for Education in Eswatini

At All Out Africa, we believe that pre-school education provides an essential foundation for successful school learning. We work together with the Ministry of Education, communities and some of our loyal past volunteers to help provide quality pre-school learning for disadvantaged children.

We believe that completion of school is important for all. We would love to see a solution for the high cost of high school education in Eswatini. Tackling this should really be a national priority. We do work together with communities and schools to identify children in need of sponsorship and try to source donors to support their attendance but this is a tiny drop in the ocean and a better long-term solution by the government is needed.

All Out Africa volunteer assisting with teaching at the Neighbourhood Care Point pre-COVID.

We believe that apprenticeship or field-based learning is an essential element of successful tertiary education. We believe that learning by doing is the best way to develop real career skills and to help address the challenge of youth unemployment we run an internship program that connects interns with career opportunities. Interested in supporting this project? Interested in being an intern? Interested in employing an intern?.

An intern during an internship placement pre-COVID.

We also run a field education facility in Eswatini for environmental studies (the Savannah Research Centre) and work with the University of Eswatini and the University of Florida to support tertiary students to carry out field-based learning activities here. We also run a field education facility in Tofo, Mozambique (the Marine Research Centre) and work with the Edwardo Mondlane University and Louisiana State University to support tertiary students to carry out field-based learning activities here. We train Swazi’s and Mozambicans here to become skilled local ecologists which is an important need if we are to address the environmental challenges facing the region. Interested in supporting this project?

Savannah Research Centre team setting up a motion dictator camera. (The photo was taken during the pre-COVID period).

We welcome anyone interested in supporting or getting involved in these projects to help improve education in Eswatini and southern Africa.