Raising money for the design and build of an Enterprise Hub for unemployed youth in Maseru, Lesotho.
rise in the city is our annual initiative that finds inventive ways to build relationships between architects and suppliers, whilst raising urgent funds to support our vitally important work with African youth.
The purpose-built Hub will house up to 100 young entrepreneurs at a time and be a high profile International pilot project that we hope will become the model for other Hubs all over Africa. Learn more
The Enterprise Hub will focus on the creative, artisan, design and built sectors. Including workshop spaces, a tool library, a sample library, a marketplace, referral system, fully functional shared office space, business and technical coaching. It will be a supportive environment that promotes networking, innovative thinking, creativity and design, as well as promoting ethical business practices.
The Hub will be built by local talent as part of our fellowship program, where recent graduates learn vital skills through socially impactful community design and build projects. Click here to sign up for our newsletter to receive updates and news as we reveal the exciting plans for the design of the Hub.
We are looking for 50 forward thinking architects to put their name to one of our building blocks and agree to have a virtual networking meeting with one of the supporting suppliers. If you are one of these architects you will also enjoy the incredible opportunity to make a direct impact to the young entrepreneurs lives by agreeing to ‘virtually’ mentor one of them for just 4 hours a month for 6 months. This will consolidate the youths learning and set them on the right track, inspiring them as they start their entrepreneurial journey.
We are asking you to invest just $2000 to sponsor the building block of your chosen architect. These funds will go directly towards the building of the hub and buy you an incredible chance to meet one-on-one with a senior principle for a virtual networking opportunity that will grow our business, do good and earn you a tax break.
The design and built sector is important throughout the African continent because as the population grows the need for infrastructure development grows too. It also creates a lot of jobs for both skilled and unskilled labour thus offering a good solution to the high levels of unemployment. It’s also overtaking many other sectors in terms of it’s contribution to the GDP.
Lesotho is a land locked country with most items and expertise are imported from South Africa. This means escalating costs and a shrinking economy. The rapidly growing population face scorching hot summers and extremely cold winters and 70% of them are unable to afford even the cheapest house a contractor will build. By improving the business skills and assisting entrepreneurs into this sector, it will feed the local economy and create jobs. They are also skills that can be taught and passed on to other members of the community.
We will offer membership of the Hub to aspiring entrepreneurs who are unemployed and recent graduates from schools, polytechnics and universities in Lesotho. Priority will be given to youth aged 18-25 with an entrepreneurial spirit which will be assessed based on any initiatives they have set up or participated in, as well as interviews and reference checks.
Membership will just be for one year to allow others to benefit from the Hub’s services and it will be reviewed and monitored on a quarterly basis.
Yes, we hope that this pilot project will become a template for additional Hubs to be constructed country-wide and ultimately across the African continent.
Help us spread the word about this unique life changing Enterprise Hub [addtoany] If you would like to help spread the word, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.