Delta Corporation, BOOST fellowship partner to promote young innovators
ISTED beverages producer, Delta Corporation Limited in collaboration with the BOOST Fellowship have organized a ‘Social Innovation Competition’ to capacitate young innovators in the country to design best business solutions that respond to community needs.
Running under the name Delta-BOOST Social Responsibility Programme dubbed “Make a Difference”, the programme is an essential component of Delta Corporation Limited/Enactus long standing partnership.
“The competition calls on young innovators from Zimbabwe’s tertiary institutions to design business solutions that respond to their community needs and aims at empowering young people by providing them with a platform to utilize their skills and ideas to support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Zimbabwe,” said the two entities in a joint statement.
To demonstrate its commitment to corporate social responsibility, Delta said it will continue to roll out sustainable community development programmes across the country. Hence this year the company has partnered BOOST Fellowship through a programme that has a presence in 13 local tertiary institutions.
“The programme seeks to address challenges associated with waste in communities through innovative and profitable waste management practices that generate income and create employment for youth and women, which are key developmental target groups, ” reads the statement.
The 2022 programme was launched in Harare in February with a workshop where students and university mentors from institutions of higher learning were trained in business and sustainable environmental management practices to equip them with necessary skills to implement their initiatives in their local communities.
The students were tasked to implement profitable waste management models that promote a clean and safe society for all while empowering livelihoods in the process.
“Since the launch, the teams have been running environmental awareness campaigns, and have established businesses running for the past year.
“This now culminates in a showcase on the 18th of November 2022 at Manna Resorts where the teams will demonstrate their impact,” reads the statement.
“The event will feature an anti-litter awareness march in the morning in the CBD, exhibitions by the teams and their project participants, as well as business pitches to judges who shall decide which projects are worth investing in.”
According to the statement, a total of US$20 000 investment grants will be up for grabs for teams who demonstrate scalability and profitability.
The event is a result of the partnership between Delta Corporation Limited and BOOST Fellowship under the theme “Make a Difference” nurturing and shaping talented student leaders who have a mind for business and a heart for the world. The aim of the programme is also to contribute to Delta Corporation Limited Sustainable Development imperatives for a cleaner world while contributing to the sustainable development goal framework in particular goals 5,8,11 and 12.
BOOST is an acronym for “Building Opportunities on Student Talent”. The programme is for university students who are keen on leadership, entrepreneurship and community development. It promotes experiential learning by offering practical skills, which complement the classroom experience.-chronicle.co.zw
