Atem Daniel Dau, the founder and the Secretary-General of the Association of the South Sudanese Entrepreneurs - Courtesy

The Association of South Sudanese Entrepreneurs on Wednesday brought together young people with great business ideas to strengthen their entrepreneurial skills.

Founded two years ago, the entrepreneur’s forum provides mentorship programs to inspire young women and entrepreneurs by providing the necessary skills and tools they need to excel in their businesses.

Speaking at the launch of the event, Atem Daniel Dau, the founder and the Secretary-General of the association explains what the group does to strengthen young people entrepreneurs.

“We focus on three thematic areas. We do mentorship, we provide financial literacy and mentorship visit,” Atem Daniel said.

“We take people to learn from other countries that have gone ahead of us,” Atem said. “If we take our young people who are doing business in other countries, they learn from other young people and also network.”

“We as South Sudanese are not in charge of our economic space,” he said. “The only way for me to have the economic space is by having a policy that favours me in the market.”

“We call upon the government to partner with such kind of associations because we understand the nature of the market.”

For her part, Paleki Ayang, a lawyer and gender and human rights expert says women can play important roles in society when economically empowered.

“When we speak about economic empowerment, it gives us women agency, it increases our happiness, our satisfaction, our productivity,” Paleki said.

“It also means that as women we are, meaningfully participating in economic decisions that impact our lives. Our facilities and our community.”

“It’s important for achieving things such as gender equality,” she said. “When women are supported to participate in economic activity, the benefit is felt throughout the households and also in the wider community.”

“The effect of women empowerment leads to improvement in children’s access to education, and health care, it can reduce gender base violence and decrease poverty.”

The managing director of Alpha Bank, Mrs. Victoria Otieno pointed out the need for the women entrepreneurs to collaborate to strengthen their businesses.

“As women in business, it is critical we strengthen our networks and encourage knowledge and resources in order to thrive,” said Otieno.

“Young women in business can also benefit from connecting with mentors and role models that have gone before them,” she said.  “Finding a trusted adviser that can provide guidance and support especially when navigating through the challenges of entrepreneurship.”

“The theme of today’s event strengthening networks for young women underscores the importance of collaboration and partnership among women in business,” she said.

“A strong network of women entrepreneurs can help us connect with potential customers and investors and other business partners enabling us to grow our businesses.”

For his part, the Chief Executive Officer of African Queen Company Gabriel Thokuj Deng told the young entrepreneurs to be passionate about what they do …

“Unless you love something, don’t do it. If you love it, do it, not send people. You have to listen carefully,” said Deng. “If you can ensure everything is correct, what you want is what you desire, you have to do it yourself.”