The Old Mutual Foundation has injected N$500 000 in a new project, the Indaba, aimed at addressing societal matters that face Namibian youth like unemployment and equate preparing for the working environment.
The Indaba, slated for 25 October 2023 at The Village eatery in Windhoek, will also be live-streamed from youths across the country to have access to this engaging and information sharing session under the theme, ‘Spilling the Tea on Youth Unemployment’.
“With this first Old Mutual Foundation indaba, we aim to position one of Namibia’s pressing challenges – and that is youth unemployment; hence, this is not just an event but a testament to our commitment to nurturing the potential of our nation’s youth,” said Old Mutual executive Patricia Olivier at the launch of the Indaba yesterday in Windhoek.
She added this initiative is designed to be a beacon of hope, a source of knowledge and a catalyst of change, a platform where millennials, Gen Zs and all the other generations who are youth will come together to discover insights, acquire skills and explore opportunities that will change their future.
“I think it is important the youth take this opportunity; the event is not only about raising awareness but also about providing practical solutions. A lot of the times, we just give this theoretical knowledge – but this time around, we want to provide our youth with practical solutions,” said Olivier.
The Group Social Responsibility Consultant, Mavis Elias, at the launch stated that among others, the Indaba will host a panel discussion, titled ‘Spilling the Tea on Youth and Employment’.
“We (OMF) asked ourselves what skills can we, as an organisation, provide for those who do find themselves facing youth unemployment. One is that many times, it’s very hard to communicate the vision you have for your life. When you end up in an interview, you need to be able to leverage conversation and speech to be able to make yourself a front player of that interview,” she explained.
Elias said: “We are going to have a public speaking training. That’s the first training that we’re going to have. It is titled speak up mastery, and it’s really to be able to give a comprehensive skill of speech. We have amazing speakers among us and we need to be able to have that taught to others”.
She added there would be a career skill building, because there are skills that many people are lacking – something one feels should have been taught in school.
“There are corporate mechanics, and understanding how to work with people, leadership skills and a lot of career skills that many of us had to learn on the job. The idea in essence in this training is to have career skill building,” she stated.
Money Problems Uncapped is another segment that will look at financial discipline in the midst of being unemployed and having to navigate through the world of trying to establishing a flourishing business.
“We are bringing together the poets and comedians of Namibia to be able to sort of put a fun twist to the conversation and be able to speak about the stock, sort of unhappy realities of youth unemployment – but in a way, that has a comedic twist to it so that we are able to sometimes sort of have just that comedy element in the language that the youth might understand,” said Elias about the full day programme.
OMF spokesperson Mufaro Nesongano stated that inclusivity is about such programmes, and they are planning on having the Indaba streamed for those who are far to access it.
“We are engaging with a media partner to make sure we have this online so that any youth, wherever they find themselves, can watch it but we are also looking at inviting others from outside to be part of the panel. Our key idea is we start here. So, we want to take this to other regions as well,” said Nesongano.
Ultimately, through the Indaba, the OMF aims to provide real-world and actionable financial solutions, career progression strategies and entrepreneurship opportunities, which will be showcased during interactive training sessions.