According to a statement sent to Lusa, the project "Impactful entrepreneurship for inclusion and diversity in Africa", implemented in the two Angolan cities, aims to help 45 young people "between the ages of 14 and 18, who will learn to transform simple ideas into small businesses".
Thus, the training will be provided by the Portuguese management school in partnership with the Angolan NGO USEPHA, specialized in "training for the management of micro and small businesses", according to the press release.
"Training adolescents for financial sustainability is one of the objectives of this project that operates in mining areas, where child labor and forced marriages are frequent", it added.
Therefore, for Iscte Business School, opening businesses in essential sectors, such as agri-food or information technology, "requires technical skills and the development of 'soft skills' to negotiate, lead teams or resolve conflicts".
The third action of this program, which began in November 2024 and had a second edition in April, will begin in August.
Starting in August, the program will be implemented in Dundo and Luena, "regions associated with the unbridled exploration of diamonds, a sector that generates a lot of wealth, but whose benefits rarely reach the local populations", explained Iscte.
"Mining activity - in many places completely informal and without adequate regulation - has aggravated phenomena such as child labor, forced marriages and recruitment of adolescents by criminal networks", stressed the program coordinator and vice-president of the school, Renato Pereira.
This program has ten training actions planned until 2027, in which participants will learn "how to develop a business from scratch", namely "prepare budgets, plan production, set prices, negotiate with partners and present ideas clearly", the document emphasized.
On the other hand, the aim is for them to develop 'soft skills', such as "integrity, networking, resilience in the face of persistent difficulties, conflict resolution and teamwork".
"Outside the sessions, there will be weekly meetings at the USEPHA headquarters in Dundo, where they will deepen fundamental complementary knowledge, such as IT tools and the strategic use of social networks", according to the statement, which explains that the NGO was founded by a doctoral student at Iscte, the Angolan Adolfo Caiji Cabeia.
This project has links with local institutions, namely the provincial government of Lunda-Norte, with the National Institute for Support to SMEs (INAPEM), of the Lueji A'Nkonde University, and with media outlets in that region.
The project is financed by the Portuguese management institution "in the context of the budget for the school's strategic initiatives, and with the sponsorship of some of the Angolan partners", it was concluded.
