Windhoek
A six-month mentoring programme under Twapewa Kadhikwa’s entrepreneurship development programme, in partnership with Nedbank, started on Saturday at the Xwama cultural village premises in Katutura.
Twenty participants will attend training once a month – for the next six months in a programme fully-funded by Nedbank. The next intake will be expected to pay a fee.
Co-owner of Kadhikwa group of companies Twapewa Kadhikwa was recently appointed as Nedbank’s SME ambassador. She will advise, plan, mentor and market entrepreneurs on Nedbank’s SME service.
Under the entrepreneurship mentorship programme, existing or starting entrepreneurs will enrich their skills, develop a network, gain a bird eye view over their business and learn from an expert on the ground amongst others.
Topics will cover understanding entrepreneurship, planning your business, managing your finances, sales and marketing. It will also cover operation management and selecting a winning team.
Kadhikwa told New Era she is doing this because she has a story to tell and understands the core and basics of business.
“Banks have realised that SME don’t want to talk bankers, they want banking services, but they want to talk to someone who has been through their journey and I represent that. I know what being repossessed means. I know what not paying salaries feels like.
“I know what cash flow projections that are not coming to the table feel like. I know what rejection feels like. I am a mother of rejections, I have been rejected by 99% of where I have knocked. And I know how to encourage somebody to how to continue to be strong and how to navigate, how to be responsible and accountable,” remarked Kadhikwa.
She added that she will also be working closely with institutions of higher learning to develop a culture of entrepreneurship. “They have hit a wall, where graduates come into the institution, leave and can’t find a job, so we want to introduce entrepreneurship – not as a last option but as a way of life.
She explained that entrepreneurship is recognising the business is losing money here and arresting that. “You don’t have to be the owner of the business to be entrepreneurial and that is not in our culture.”
Kadhikwa further said she is a born entrepreneur and can see opportunities, which is why she developed the programme, because she cannot undertake all the businesses.
“So, I am happy to develop, nurture and guide somebody,” Kadhikwa says, adding that she wants to see change in Katutura and wants to be part of that change.