Hopes high over One Economy Foundation

Ruben Mathias is a young Namibian who has heard about First Lady Monica Geingos’ recently launched One Economy Foundation, and hopes to be noticed and directly benefit from it.

Mathias, a 33 year old kapana seller in Windhoek’s Okuryangava open market, wants to take his business to another level.

“I have heard of the One Economy Foundation and have been asking around for information on how to contact them,” he said, adding that he wants to have his own kapana business as he is currently working for someone else.

According to Mathias, he is confident he can handle his business and has saved some money over the years. He believes business mentoring would do him good.

Another youth The Namibian spoke to, Linea Usiku, said she has never heard of the One Economy Foundation.

However, when explained to her, she said she hopes no one will be left out.

Usiku, a seamstress in Katutura, wants to benefit from the foundation like many other Namibians. The foundation has raised more than N$5 million to date.

Through the employment of diverse strategies including mentoring and professional coaching; collateral free lending; talent identification programmes for educational and entrepreneurial purposes; advocacy on adolescent reproductive health; advocacy on communicable and noncommunicable diseases – the First Lady aspires to actively work towards the shared dream of a Namibia where inequality is significantly reduced and the formal and informal economies increasingly become one.

Meanwhile, the One Economy Foundation, through its One Volunteer Programme, is looking for volunteers to assist at the foundation.

The One Volunteer Programme seeks to embrace the spirit of volunteerism by mobilising volunteers to assist with the implementation of the activities under each of our pillars.

“The programme wants to tap into the goodwill of Namibians who would like to assist us to realise our dream of building a socioeconomic bridge between our dual economies.”

“Each human being can make a difference in the life of another person and we wish to tap into the strong support and goodwill displayed towards the foundation and its objectives,” says the foundation.

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