Sponsor Microfinance: Empower Small Businesses

Empower the Next Generation of Leaders in Sierra Leone

Small businesses are the life-blood of the economy.  It is crucial then that they be enabled and empowered to grow ... and flourish through appropriate training and financial investment.  This perspective is supported by the Africa Commission

The Africa Commission during a meeting in November 2008 discussed concrete initiatives that would foster growth and job creation in Africa - with the overall goal of bringing about real change for Africa’s growing number of young people by improving its competitiveness in the global market.  The initiatives include:

  • Better access to investment finance and advisory services for small and medium sized enterprises.
  • Increased support to additional and relevant post primary education, including technical and vocational education and training to facilitate private sector led growth and improve competitiveness.
  • Support to young entrepreneurs in Africa through access to risk capital, skills training and advisory services.
  • Create an index for African competitiveness to spur action on concrete measures to ensure private sector-led growth.

    Read more...

  
Sierra Leone is on the West Coast of Africa, with an estimated population of 6.2 million. Of this population, only 35.1% are literate (age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic). (Source CIA Factbook) In other words almost 65% of the population over 15 years old cannot read or write. 

Sierra Leone Map - in Africa

 

According to the United Nations 2007-2008 Human Development report, Sierra Leone ranks as # 177 (last place) in Human Development Index. 

This project changes lives by providing a practical, sustainable path out of poverty. What better way to empower people by giving them a “hand up” and not simply a “hand out”.

 

 

Imagine ...   living from "hand to mouth"
 
Imagine ... how happy you would be at the opportunity of building a small business towards self-sufficiency.

Well, now you can help make this dream come true for individuals and small businesses in Sierra Leone.  

 

“Current levels of unemployment among young men and women in West Africa are a ticking time bomb for the region and beyond,” according to “Youth Unemployment and Regional Insecurity in West Africa,” a report published in 2006 by the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA).

“This is not just a social disaster and a huge wasted economic asset,” the report said. ”Ever-rising joblessness among youths and the desperation that accompanies it undermines the possibility of progress in those countries in the region that are emerging from conflict.”

– Read full article online  

 

 

Today, we wish to invite you to help empower small businesses in Sierra Leone.  Yes, you can make a difference and your donation together with others is a strategic investment into development of small busineses.  Their lives will never, ever be the same again.

 

 
How You Can Help

1. Make a donation today!
 
Links and Resources
 
 
Articles on the Internet 

United Nations Statistics and Related Country Development Information

 
General Information on Sierra Leone
 
 
Questions: Contact us here – http://DevelopAfrica.org/contact