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PARTICIPANTS in the Eagles Nest Youth Export Incubation programme, launched last year by ZimTrade, have ­finished the second stage of the capacity-building intervention.

They will now be going through the second elimination stage, where only 14 young business owners will go through another intensive export development phase.

The programme started with 100 participants who were selected from across the country and a pitching exercise was held to come up with 40 businesses with potential for export.

The second phase of the programme began early November last year, and successful candidates received training under the ZimTrade flagship marketing and branding for international competitiveness (MBIC) programme.

The candidates also managed to showcase their operational spaces to the judges — who are dubbed “Eagles” — and are currently awaiting the outcome to see who will be successful and win the inaugural Eagles Nest title.

Although the programme initially faced some disruptions because of the coronavirus outbreak, participating candidates maintained a high drive that saw them actively engaging in capacity building programmes through virtual platforms. ZimTrade client advisor, Vivinah Matswetu, said plans are to continue exploring potential in youth-led businesses regardless of the challenges brought by Covid-19.

“While there were delays brought by the pandemic we still plan to proceed with exploring and empowering other youth-owned businesses for this year, so youths should be prepared to apply again at a date that will be announced soon,” she said. — ZimTrade newsletter