Job Booster Programme to upscale 50 entrepreneurs 

 Kuba, an online ecosystem for small business development has launched a new Job Booster Programme. The programme has selected 50 participating entrepreneurs for its upscaling programme. 

The programme aims to rapidly increase job creation by supporting and empowering small businesses across the country

This programme comes after the introduction of lockdown regulations, where companies were forced to pivot in order to stay ahead of the curve. 

Jacques Sibomana, founder and managing director of Kuba, explains that the programme aims to further educate small businesses and empower them to overcome the challenges faced during the lockdown. 

 “We believed that the lockdown regulations presented an opportunity to empower our users with educational courses that will assist them to navigate the current norm. It resulted in the launch of the Kuba Job Booster Programme.”

Kuba secured funding in September 2020 and has launched the programme in partnership with Job Booster, an international youth employment programme, driven b the Woord en Daad Foundation in the Netherlands. 

Charmaine Lambert of workspace Absa WorkInProgress comments on the launch of the programme and the collaboration with Job Booster.

 “This funding agreement signed by Jacques and his team isn’t just a Kuba win, but a win for our entire entrepreneurial network and the greater start-up community. The lockdown had devastating effects on so many small businesses and we’re immensely proud that a member of our community found an opportunity in tough times and is sharing it with other entrepreneurs who want to make a difference.”

Job Booster Programme 

The pilot programme will equip the 50 selected entrepreneurs with business training via Kuba’s online courses along with access to their GrowMyBiz Starter kit.

David Fair, country lead of Job Booster, believes that the programme will help unlock the abundant potential in these young entrepreneurs. 

“By providing the core skills required to run and grow a business we will do more than create jobs – we will create job creators.”

The main goal of the programme is to assist in facilitating job creation and revenue growth in the participating small businesses. 

“We’ll be enabling individuals to scale small businesses, increase revenue for themselves and create jobs for others,” says Sibomana.  

Applications for the programme have closed and 50 entrepreneurs have been selected as the finalists. 

 

On Monday we launched our Job Booster Program, with our first cohort of 50 candidates. We are looking forward to an exciting journey ahead. Thank you team @AbsaSouthAfrica for opening bank accounts for some of the candidates @WIP_CT #JobBoosterProgram #sustainable pic.twitter.com/Ola5yFwqYs

— Kuba.Services (@Kubaservices) September 16, 2020

Kuba’s findings 

As a reasonably young company itself, part of Kuba’s scaling strategy was joining a tech-specific co-working space to connect with other entrepreneurs and tap into, the expertise of those within the ecosystem. 

“For an entrepreneur, operating in isolation is a hard and long road – the advice, support and assistance a start-up gets is important to aid it in its journey,” said Sibomana

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Featured image: Kuba (Supplied)