Empowerment Squared’s HOPE Project Targets 200 Liberian Entrepreneurs | Business

-Launches Phase II of the program that provides beneficiaries with financial literacy skills

Two hundred young Liberian entrepreneurs are on the verge of being empowered with financial literacy and other basic entrepreneurial skills, thanks to Empowerment Squared, and MasterCard Foundation.

The Canadian-based charity on Saturday, June 15, launched the second phase of the Harnessing Opportunities to Promote Entrepreneurship (HOPE) project, which is gradually becoming one of its flagship initiatives. The project aimed at empowering economically and socially disadvantaged individuals in the age group of 18-35.

This program will focus on providing digital literacy, financial literacy, and basic entrepreneurship skills to at least 200 Liberians, along with offering holistic psychosocial counseling and seed funds to support their self-employment endeavors.

Through an incentive-based approach, HOPE aims to equip marginalized youth with the necessary skills and resources to improve their economic circumstances and harness their entrepreneurial potential. By fostering self-employment opportunities and creating economic benefits within beneficiaries’ communities, the project seeks to empower participants to uplift themselves and others around them.

“We intend to do this because over time, we have been looking at the Liberian economy and what can be done to improve local businesses in Liberia from the informal and formal sector with a growth mentality to transform their businesses from table-market to owning a shop,” Leo Lekpele Nupolu Johnson, Executive Director of Empowerment Squared, said at the launch. “What we are trying to do here is to put the keys of success into your own hands.”

Johnson noted that HOPE’s overarching vision is to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset among its beneficiaries and Liberian entrepreneurs.

“We want to hear you saying, what can I do to become successful? What does it take for me to become a problem solver? You need to ask yourself the hard question,” he said.

He disclosed that the program will be providing direct training for 70% of women and 30% of men and following the training, the program will be mobilizing direct resources for investment in Liberia’s business ventures.

The first phase of the HOPE project, which was considered a pilot initiative, was launched last year with 75 young people enrolled. It is supported by a grant of $99,700 from The Master card Foundation’s Employee Innovation Fund.

The funding enabled Empowerment Squared to identify, train, and mentor beneficiaries as they embark on small-scale entrepreneurial ventures, with guidance provided by local entrepreneurs and professionals.

“This is the second of such funding that MasterCard has sent to Liberia,” Emma Harris, one of the Leads on the project, said at the launch. “The first time, they were looking to see whether we could make it. We had 70 beneficiaries on the first project. It was successful and nobody ate anyone’s money.

“We made sure the seed funds were sent directly into their bank accounts. So the way we handled the pilot project was very fair and transparent. Our level of work made MasterCard, the sponsor of the project trust us more.

It was against this backdrop, she said, that the MasterCard provided additional funding for the second phase of the project with a target of 200 young people.

Discipline stands at the core of the project, Harris said. “You will have to be disciplined. You have to be disciplined to come to class. You have to be disciplined in managing your businesses and finances. You have to change your mind and start to believe in yourself more.”

Meanwhile, the HOPE project is building upon Empowerment Squared’s previous work in Liberia, particularly through the establishment of the Liberian Learning Center, which serves as a public library and small business incubation hub.

Like the pilot phase, the latest project will also focus on assessing participants’ existing skills and readiness for entrepreneurship, while offering training in computer skills, social skills, ethics, and mindset development.

During the Saturday launch, some beneficiaries of the pilot project explained how the project has impacted their lives, and how knowledge acquired is being used to expand their businesses. They admonished would-be beneficiaries to not take the program lightly as it has the potential to transform lives.