The Embassy of the United States of America to the Republic of Zambia Deputy Chief of Mission Christopher Krafft today launched the 2017/2018 Entrepreneurship Boot Camp for young Zambian entrepreneurs in collaboration with local technology and business incubation hub BongoHive.

The goal of the Boot Camp program is to support development of youth entrepreneurship in Zambia with skills, strategies and expert advice to kick-start their businesses. Over the next 12 months, the boot camp will empower more than 60 aspiring entrepreneurs involved in social impact, media and entertainment, finance, ecommerce and retail, agribusiness and energy, and information and technology.
A total of six U.S. business expert speakers will travel to Zambia and provide hands-on support to boot camp participants. Boot camp sessions will take place at BongoHive and U.S. Embassy Information Resource Center with each location hosting a separate group of entrepreneurs.

Speaking at the 2017/2018 boot camp launch, Mr. Krafft said Zambia’s capacity to create jobs, wealth and reduce poverty depends on the ingenuity and drive of entrepreneurs. He stated that, “the key to supporting the growth of entrepreneurship in Zambia lies in government freeing the private sector and unleashing the creativity of its entrepreneurs. This means less intervention, and less regulation, which will lead to greater investment and faster growth.”

Also speaking during the launch, BongoHive Co-founder and Executive Director, Lukonga Lindunda spoke of why this partnership is important for local entrepreneurs, “Our partnership with the US Embassy has enabled us to tap into knowledge and expertise of US-based entrepreneur’s. This is very important for local entrepreneurs as this exposure helps them to not only avoid mistakes made by more experienced entrepreneurs but also have an outside-in perspective on local business opportunities that have global potential,” said Mr Lindunda.

He added that the bootcamp program will build capacity of over 200 early-stage entrepreneurs in the next 12 months with the very best having the opportunity to enter our other BongoHive programmes.

This is the third entrepreneurship boot camp that the U.S. Embassy is supporting in Zambia in partnership with BongoHive following the successful hosting of 2015 social entrepreneurship boot camp and 2016 entrepreneurship financing boot camp.