The Youth Entrepreneurship Skills Acquisition Programme (YESAP) is a vocational training scheme powered by the Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC) for the indigenous people of Okirika, Eleme and Rumuogholu with the sole aim of investing into their livelihoods.
From the culmination of the YESAP programme, a Tracer Study Survey was set in motion to analyze the beneficiaries based on their success stories and challenges they face in their business.
Members of Accords Team, reached out to these beneficiaries in their various communities who specialize in various enterprises such as welding and fabrication, fashion designing, catering, Computer, Information and Communication Technology. Analyses were made based on who started their business, how the programme influenced the progress of their business and the challenges they currently face. Some of the outcomes gleaned so far from the exercise are:
• Some of the beneficiaries have begun their business
• YESAP training was a great platform to learn vocational skills and kick start their business
• There is an increase in income generation
• Their entrepreneurship knowledge is top notch and their customer base approach is excellent.
However, they are all faced with various challenges in running their business. The most identified challenge is finance while a few find insecurity, electricity and low inflow of customers a big problem.
