Merging business and the environment

Given Namibia's current challenges with slow economic growth and a high unemployment rate, especially among the youth, green enterprise development offers the country an opportunity to attain its goals set out in the Fifth National Development Plan and Vision 2030.Green businesses face many challenges such as a lack of education and awareness on the importance of green enterprises in an economy like Namibia's, fewer market opportunities as consumers are not informed about the value of their products, and insufficient business development opportunities tailored to their needs as social entrepreneurs. A number of institutions and companies aim to address the challenges faced at these cusps of youth unemployment, unsustainable economic growth and a lack of enterprise development. One such partnership is between the Hanns Seidel Foundation Namibia (HSF) Environmental Awareness and Climate Change Project and the Namibia Business Innovation Institute (NBII) at the Namibian University of Science and Technology (NUST) who jointly offer the Eco-Entrepreneurship Training and Mentorship Programme. The Eco-Entrepreneur programme seeks to empower and encourage upcoming Namibian entrepreneurs to venture into innovative eco-businesses that can address social, economic and environmental challenges and contribute to the realisation of a Green Economy in Namibia. The programme is comprised of workshops, mentorship sessions, field trip excursions and information events. The programme has trained over 100 entrepreneurs who will also be eligible for the 'Best Eco-entrepreneurship among Business start-ups' Award of the Sustainable Development Awards 2017. The Awards were launched on 7 July 2017 with the Sustainable Development Advisory Council (SDAC), the Environmental Investment Fund (EIF), the Hanns Seidel Foundation Namibia, Namibia Media Holdings (NMH), Nedbank Namibia, Agribank and the Namibia Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST).As a main partner in the Eco-Entrepreneur Training and Mentorship Programme and a Namibian academic institution making great strides for innovation, research and development, NUST has gone a step further to introduce an Institutional Sustainability Strategy under which staff members and students have taken the 'Sustainability Pledge' which aims to green university offices. Furthermore, NUST through the NBII is the Namibian partner in the multilateral partnership (South Africa, Zambia and Switzerland) in which entrepreneurs addressing the challenges of sanitation, water and resource management received training in conceptualising their business ideas. Apart from the training received, the project offered opportunities for matchmaking and innovation-based business brokering process between European and Namibian businesses.The official media partner for the Sustainable Development Awards in 2017 is the Namibia Media Holdings Group of Companies (NMH). NMH subscribes to and is on the forefront of living the values of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the Government of the Republic of Namibia. NMH is an example to other members of the Namibian private sector of the impact of a green business model for profitability and social responsibility. Paving the way for conservation research is the Nedbank Go Green Fund, which is implemented in partnership with the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF). The Fund is aimed at supporting individuals and organisations working towards a more sustainable future. The Fund promotes the sustainable use of natural resources, enhances the understanding of indigenous species and natural ecosystems, and disseminates information on environmental issues and parameters among communities. Some of the projects to benefit from the fund in recent years include the Khomas Environmental Education Programme (KEEP), Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) and the Namibian Dolphin Project (NDP).STAFF REPORTER

Merging business and the environment

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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Merging business and the environment

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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