20 September 2013
The awards ceremony for the Best Idea Competition organised as part of the Northern Businesswomen Conference was held at the Telecom Namibia head office in Windhoek on Thursday.
The competition is jointly sponsored by Telecom Namibia and Standard bank in an effort to contribute to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Namibia by helping the next generation of businesswomen create and lead their successful business ventures.
During the 14th Northern Businesswomen Conference held in Ongwediva on 8 August which was also sponsored by the two companies, the Namibia Business Innovation Centre (NBIC) invited conference participants to enter their business ideas as part of the competition.
Namibian Businesswomen Projects organiser, Desere Lundon- Muller, noted the conference was a resounding success having been attended by over 100 delegates.
“The Namibian Business Innovation Centre (NBIC) did a presentation on innovation and the new business idea generation to capture quality and sustainable ideas. It also conducted an evaluation on the final business ideas presented by the five participants,” she said.
The NBIC, after evaluating the business ideas, announced winners at the ceremony on 19 September. The idea Elundu-Oushake (Auction Kraal) developed by four women won, receiving prizes worth N$12 500 from Telecom Namibia and N$5 000 from Standard Bank as start-up funds.
The winners, Diina Shimweefeni, Antonia Antonia, Peneyambeko Ndakolo and Lidia Shadjuka will be assisted by the NBIC with a formal business plan that can be presented to a financial institution for funding.
Telecom Namibia corporate communication and public relations senior manager, Oiva Angula said business idea competitions work as a learning process for aspiring entrepreneurs: “The business idea competition allows students to learn the process of innovation. While business is all about risk, the competition also teaches aspiring businesswomen how to minimise risks in their projects and how to validate their ideas."