Castries, Saint Lucia | October 20, 2023 - Sixty emerging business owners have embarked on another phase of their journey to success with the Youth Economy Agency. These five dozen aspiring moguls attended the Orientation and Registration Ceremony for the Agency's second Introduction to Business Planning training course, at the YEA Office on Chaussee Road in Castries and the Vieux Fort ICT Access Centre in Vieux Fort.
Over the next 3 weeks, participants will be taught how to prepare a robust template to help their young businesses not just survive, but thrive. The objectives they hope to attain over the next four weeks include gaining a solid understanding of what a business plan is, its purpose, and why it's crucial for their ventures; understanding the purpose and importance of a business plan in securing funding, making informed decisions, and guiding their businesses to success; getting practical guidance on market research, financial projections, marketing strategies, and operational planning; and networking and collaboration.
With classroom sessions getting underway at both venues from Monday, October 23, it is anticipated that facilitators will equip their charges with the knowledge and skills required to prepare a well-structured and comprehensive business plan, which will be submitted for review by an evaluation committee. Once approved, participants will qualify for an angel fund, comprising a $5000.00 cash injection for their businesses.
This training is supported by the Republic of China (Taiwan), under a memorandum of understanding between the Youth Economy Agency and the Technical Mission of the Republic of China (Taiwan). This is the second such training excercise conducted by YEA, the first having included 100 learners. The Agency also concluded its Introduction to Digital Marketing course earlier this week, with a further 60 young business owners and aspiring business owners learning the rudiments of search engine optimization, social media content creation, data analysis, and more.
YEA continues its training programme in keeping with its mandate to empower Saint Lucian entrepreneurs by creating the space for them to turn hobbies into entrepreneurship and skills into businesses.
The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Government of Saint Lucia (GOSLU) yesterday signed a USD7.6 million agreement to finance the Saint Lucia Youth Economy Project through which more than 3000 young people will benefit from business training or financing to start small enterprises.
The loan, which was approved in June, will help to boost the participation and engagement of youth between 15 and 35 years of age in socially inclusive and gender-responsive businesses. Six hundred young people will be trained in business development, planning, marketing, and business management while an additional 120 youths will receive business mentoring, coaching, and financing. More than 3,000 youngsters between the ages of 18 and 25 will be supported in enterprise activities in agriculture, agro-processing, manufacturing, retail, and the services industries as well as the blue, green, and orange economies.
CDB Vice President of Operations, Isaac Solomon noted the pivotal moment the signing represented, saying the agreement marked the sealing of cooperation between the Bank and the GOSLU to increase the participation and engagement of the youth population of Saint Lucia in the country’s economy.
“A project of this nature is a pioneering and timely intervention, carefully designed to drive youth economic empowerment, support the continuation of investment and capacity development in youth-led enterprises within the micro small, and medium enterprise sector to reduce youth unemployment and increase social resilience,” said Mr. Solomon.
“I am also pleased to say that socially inclusive and gender equality opportunities and approaches are at the centre of the project. This will ensure that all services, investments, and operations address the diverse needs of men, women, and vulnerable groups irrespective of their sex, disabilities, or geographical residence,” Mr. Solomon added.
Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Honourable Philip J. Pierre, noted that young people are the primary agents of change and key to building not only Saint Lucia but the wider Caribbean region.
“We already know that our youth possess unmatched levels of innovation and creativity. This initiative will provide them with the resources, training, and mentorship they need to explore that creativity but also to engage in business activities that will ultimately help to reduce youth unemployment and build sustainable livelihoods,” Prime Minister Pierre said.
The CDB has strengthened its partnership with Saint Lucia significantly since January 2023, with initiatives and agreements valued at more than USD34 million in loan and grant funding including co-financing commitments from the Government. The Bank’s 53rd Board of Governor’s Meeting was also held in Castries in June.
The latest presentation of grants from the Youth Economy Agency has taken the number of young entrepreneurs supported by the agency to 253, with more than EC $1,000,000 having been disbursed in support of these emerging companies. This was YEA's biggest presentation to date, with 55 Saint Lucians between the ages of 15 and 35 being brought on board.
The businesses which have been assisted in this latest round of disbursements are engaged in real estate, agroprocessing, the creative arts, retailing, tourism and accommodation, food and beverage, cosmetology, design, farming, graphic design, videography, auto repair, health and wellness, landscaping, architecture, and small manufacturing, among others. Soufriere, Choiseul, Laborie, Canaries, Gros Islet, Mon Repos, Micoud, Babonneau, Vieux Fort, Dennery, Anse La Raye, and Castries are among the communities represented by this latest cohort.
At the biggest presentation ceremony, which was held on Tuesday 29 August 2023 at the Orchid Garden, Union, Gros Islet, recipients were addressed by Mr. Thomas Leonce, Chairperson of the Youth Economy Agency. Mr, Leonce expressed his satisfaction with the progress being made by the agency. He noted that since YEA was launched in March, several grant recipients as well as persons having received training through the organisation have begun working together, creating what he calls a "youth economy ecosystem." One such example is a small manufacturer who recently began exporting product to Canada, using a logistics company that is also a grant recipient.
Ms. Tanzania Mathurin-Fedee, who operates a number of businesses, including Safi Tours in Soufriere, was among the recipients on the day. She delivered a motivational speech, encouraging her fellow young innovators to apply to YEA, and to make the most of the opportunity being handed to them.
In addition to furnishing over 250 business owners with grants between April and August of this year, YEA has also engaged in training in Business Planning and Digital Marketing for over 100 individuals, with a further tranche of Digital Marketing training set to get underway in September. The agency has paired more than 30 young people with experienced mentors, who are providing one-on-one coaching over a six-month period. Most recently, YEA began providing concessions on the import of equipment and inputs for young entrepreneurs.
July 20, 2023 – BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has approved a USD 7.6 million loan to boost youth participation and engagement in socially-inclusive, gender-responsive, and environmentally-resilient business enterprises in Saint Lucia.
The initiative, aimed at 15 to 35-year-olds, will provide a ‘one-stop solution’ for grant and loan financing as well as training and mentorship under the Youth Economy Project (YEP) of Saint Lucia’s Youth Economy Agency (YEA), the agency established to address high levels of unemployment among Saint Lucia’s increasing youth population.
Project activities include training for 600 youth in business development, planning, marketing, and business management. Additionally, 120 young persons will benefit from business mentoring, coaching, and financing (loans and grants) to over 3,000 male and female young people between the ages of 18 and 25 to support enterprise activities in agriculture, agro-processing, manufacturing, retail, and the services industries as well as the blue, green, and orange economies.
The project is being implemented by Saint Lucia’s Youth Economy Agency (YEA). The YEA will also benefit from technical assistance to strengthen its institutional capacity, particularly with regard to implementing social, gender, and environmental safeguards.
Other activities include monitoring and evaluation; grievance redress mechanism, building resilience to climate-related and other shocks, and strengthening inter-agency partnerships and networking of the YEA through the services of a Social and Gender Specialist, Environmental Officer, and Financing Specialist.
CDB’s Vice President, Operations, Mr. Isaac Solomon, pointed out that the project aligns with the CDB’s Youth Policy and Operational Strategy 2020 and the Bank’s strategic objective of supporting inclusive and sustainable growth and development through building production resilience. He noted that both the Bank and the Saint Lucia National Youth Policy and Action Plan recognise the country’s youth population as the primary agents of change.
“Youth are the societal building blocks, possessing unmatched levels of innovation, creativity, and technological aptitude and intentional strategies are still necessary to address the economic participation of the growing youthful population to build on the progress already made,” Mr. Solomon said.
“The provision of concessionary financing to youth led MSMEs supports entrepreneurship, the creation of employment, expanding the productive sector and positioning MSMEs to contribute to long-term growth, will reduce youth disengagement and disincentivise involvement in criminal activity, promote gender equality and increase social resilience,” he added.
The project, which will be financed with resources from the CDB and the YEA, will be implemented over 18 months, commencing in October 2023.
The Youth Economy Agency (YEA) has now provided financial support by way of grants to nearly 200 young Saint Lucians, totalling over $750,000, following the Agency's latest disbursement. A total of 39 recipients from more than 20 communities across the island were presented with cheques for their emerging businesses, during a brief ceremony on Tuesday.
YEA's largest disbursement to date comes fewer than five months since the Agency was launched, and less than four months after it opened its offices on Chaussee Road in Castries. The presentation ceremony was held at Bay Gardens Inn on Rodney Bay in Gros Islet. The young entrepreneurs are engaged in a range of endeavours, including technology, agriculture, transportation, childcare, health and wellness, landscaping, media, and more.
Addressing the recipients was Chairperson of YEA, Mr. Thomas Leonce.
"Among you Awardees seated here this morning are those who possess what has been deemed to be a sound business idea, there are those who have just began taking early steps on their entrepreneurial journey and there are those who may have forged out a little earlier and are already some distance along the path of becoming a seasoned entrepreneur. To all of you I say welcome to the YEA family," he said.
Mr. Leonce went on to outline some of the successes that YEA has enjoyed from inception.
"We opened for business, virtually, in March of 2023, prior to which zero grants had been issued. Fast forward to five months later and close to 200 grants have been awarded, through a combination of resources provided directly by the Government of Saint Lucia and the Taiwanese Technical Mission, who fully funded our Entrepreneurial Development Training in Business Planning, graduating about 92 young persons with an essential skill. YEA has consulted with an additional 300+ young entrepreneurs to evaluate their applications, and a further 200 are waiting in the wings to be interviewed.
"At the end of June 2023, over three quarters of a million dollars has been disbursed mainly to procure necessary equipment to enable Awardees to scale up their respective businesses.
"So the Youth Economy has been translated from a long held dream of the Honourable Prime Minister, into reality.
"In closing, and as I have said before, use this opportunity to collaborate, collaborate, collaborate to source your packaging (your bottles, jars, pouches, labels). Collaborate to advertise your respective goods and services.
"I encourage you to speak to your peers in your respective communities, give them the guidance, give them the encouragement.
"Build economic prosperity for yourselves.
"Thank you for having taken that step to apply for support from YEA. Go out there and make yourselves proud. Go out there and make us proud. Go out there and make Saint Lucia and the world proud."
This most recent group of presentations brings to 198 the total of young Saint Lucians being given financial support by the Youth Economy Agency. Additionally, since its launch in March, YEA has hosted a series of Business Mixers in four communities islandwide, trained close to 100 entrepreneurs in Business Planning, commenced its Mentorship Programme with over 30 participants, and started training in Digital Marketing, as well as providing support for the third annual Botham Jean Foundation Youth Exploring Skills Programme, which latter impacts over 150 students.
The Botham Jean Foundation is once again making a difference in the lives of young people in Saint Lucia, this time with the support of the Youth Economy Agency (YEA). The Foundation is presently hosting its third annual Youth Exploring Skills (YES) Programme, taking place from 24 July to 18 August at the National Skills Development Centre (NSDC) in Bisee, Castries.
The secretary of the Botham Jean Foundation, Ms. Desma Charles, asserts that this year's programme offers youth from all walks of life an opportunity to grow into highly capable professionals, through boosting their skillsets. The course caters to the technically inclined as well as more traditional students. A total of 160 students aged 12 to 17 will be undertaking training in several areas during the summer holidays, including: nail art; hair design; bread, cake, and pastry making; digital media (desktop publishing); and audio production. Additionally, as part of the NSDC curriculum, participants are exposed to life skills training and basic information technology.
“The programme aims at building the entrepreneurial and employability skills of young men and women, who will have the opportunity to be exposed to a variety of technical and modern skills areas,” Charles said. In addition to YEA and NSDC, YES is supported by the Ministry of Youth Development & Sports. The programme is free for the young participants.
YEA recently presented to NSDC on the financing and training opportunities available through the Agency to young skilled Saint Lucians between the ages of 15 and 35. This partnership with the Botham Jean Foundation helps prepare the next generation of local entrepreneurs, equipping them with some of the skills they will need to effect positive economic change.