According to UNDP statistics, Somalia has a poverty rate of 73% where the unemployment rate is 67% with 70% of its population is under the age of 30 years and the adult literacy rate is over 40%, the country definitely needs a lot of innovative solutions.
Thus, we created IgnitePreneur – a new term developed by us here at Hano Academy. For us, IgnitePreneur means igniting the power of entrepreneurship in deserving communities to improve their livelihoods.
This is a one-stop-shop (IgnitePreneur) which has already serviced over 4,298 people since 2016, through these 4 innovative pathways:
Hano Academy offers training programs in different skillsets including marketable technical & vocational skills training and life skills that either enable marginalized communities to start their own ventures or secure employment.
Baadigoob is an online & offline platform for connecting skilled people and employers together through freelancing basis. Baadigoob offers an active call center where employers call to request for services or skilled laborers. Baadigoob also serves as a platform for e-commerce (online marketplace) for buying and selling goods online. On the other Khibrad Recruitment Agency links up job-seekers to white collar jobs.
The startup business incubator provides mentorship, training, networking and Business Development Services through Hano Social Innovation Hub. Jobseekers learn key business and technology skills, for starting, managing and running businesses profitably, while leveraging on technology and entrepreneurial skills.
New entrepreneurs and SME with great business ideas are provided access to micro-business finance and investments through the Social Innovation Hub and Maan-Maal TV Entrepreneurship Program. At the Maan-Maal TV participants pitch their business ideas in front of experts of various backgrounds and successful businessmen and women where brilliant ideas are further refined and invested.
The main goal of the Ingitepreneur initiative is to offer an effective response to human capital development mechanism through empowerment, education and employment for sustainable livelihoods. The project seeks to improve income generating capacity of marginalized communities in Somalia.
1. Creating a Technical Skills Training Institute (Hano Academy) to provide training, access to technology, and a sustainable business ecosystem.
2. Setting up an online platform for freelance employment (Baadigoob) to facilitate direct hiring of beneficiaries and an online marketplace to buy and sell products and services.
3. Running an entrepreneurship TV program for developing viable business ideas, seeking finance, network and creating visibility for the best and profitable entrepreneurial ideas (Maan-Maal TV Entrepreneurship Program). This program is implemented in three phases namely: