![\"Winners](\"https:\/\/www.wpdi.org\/app\/uploads\/1f7bcf77-e933-ac5b-2a6a-dc6ce9e2cd52-750x422.jpg\")
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October 20, 2021<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Recently, WPDI concluded its inaugural Business Plan Competition in Uganda\u2019s Karamoja Sub-Region. Conducted amongst six cohorts of trainees that have completed the Business & Entrepreneurship course we offer at our Community Learning Center in Moroto, the sub-region\u2019s capital, the competition resulted in three winners. With it now concluded, they will join the additional\u00a012<\/strong>\u00a0businesses that won Business Plan Competitions held this year by WPDI at the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement and in the Acholi Sub-Region as part of our wider efforts to spur youth entrepreneurship across Northern and Western Uganda.<\/p>\n WPDI regularly hosts Business Plan Competitions as part of our Business Bootcamp program, which fosters entrepreneurship in vulnerable areas by providing aspiring entrepreneurs with state-of-the-art skills and funding opportunities to create and develop businesses of their own. Organized in collaboration with local partners, the competitions are designed to identify promising projects in an open and transparent manner, focusing on the sustainability and profitability of the proposed ventures. To ensure that the winners have enough knowledge and the skills needed to develop and operate viable businesses, the competitions are exclusively open to trainees who have successfully completed the basic and intermediate levels of our Business & Entrepreneurship courses. Through these schemes, we aim to ensure that participants in the program can effectively generate income for themselves and their families and generate positive outcomes for their communities,\u00a0 which benefit from new jobs, services, and the opportunities that thriving businesses tend to generate. As development and peacebuilding are two sides of the same coin, this program helps vulnerable communities become more prosperous and conflict-averse places.<\/p>\n In recent months, WPDI has held Business Plan Competitions at the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, in the Acholi Sub-Region, and, most recently, in the Karamoja Sub-Region. After almost one year of strict lockdown measures, all three competitions generated a significant amount of interest and excitement among our students and their communities at large, including from local leaders. Each competition began with a comprehensive refresher training to reinforce key points and principles, ensuring that every participant felt comfortable with the skills and knowledge needed to craft and submit a business plan to the respective expert review panels. One hundred and fifty-five people in\u00a027<\/strong>\u00a0groups submitted entries to three respective panels composed of WPDI experts and local partners. Each proposal was reviewed thoroughly and the groups were provided with feedback before they submitted their proposals for a final analysis.<\/p>\n Ultimately, 15 groups were chosen as finalists: Six from the competition at the settlement, six from the competition in Acholi, and three from the competition in Karamoja. The winners are as follows:<\/p>\n Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement:<\/p>\n 1. \u00a0 \u00a0 Farm Uganda Youth Group (agriculture)<\/p>\n 2. \u00a0 \u00a0 Hope Mission Youth Group (craft and design)<\/p>\n 3. \u00a0 \u00a0 Life is Ability Youth Group (energy saving stoves)<\/p>\n 4. \u00a0 \u00a0 California Youth Group (poultry farming)<\/p>\n 5. \u00a0 \u00a0 Bright Future Youth Group (agriculture)<\/p>\n 6. \u00a0 \u00a0 Ebenzer Youth Group (poultry farming)\n<\/p>\n Acholi Sub-Region:<\/p>\n 1. \u00a0 \u00a0 Select Garment (clothing)<\/p>\n 2. \u00a0 \u00a0 Happy Rabbits Hub (rabbit farm)<\/p>\n 3. \u00a0 \u00a0 Arrumado (agriculture)<\/p>\n 4. \u00a0 \u00a0 Tic Ber Vegetable Growers (agriculture)<\/p>\n 5. \u00a0 \u00a0 iClassic Designers (craft and design)<\/p>\n 6. \u00a0 \u00a0 Bees for Life Farming (agriculture)\n<\/p>\n Karamoja Sub-Region:<\/p>\n 1. \u00a0 \u00a0 Marble City Beauty Parlor (salon)<\/p>\n 2. \u00a0 \u00a0 Moroto Mini Sports Center (sporting goods)<\/p>\n 3. \u00a0 \u00a0 EMUJA Enterprise (services)<\/p>\n All the winners were very excited to win the competition.\u00a0\u201cMy business is doing well, but now I know my sales will increase dramatically,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0said Emeri, the Chairperson of Life is Ability Youth Group.\u00a0\u201cI know my idea of making an economical and eco-friendly supper stove will be very popular here. We are so proud to have won the competition!\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0Milton, a member of the Hope Mission Youth Group, had a similar reaction, telling us that\u00a0\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe that we were amongst the winners! I now know it is possible to develop a strong business \u2013 we shall use our skills to help other youths succeed.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"WPDI](\"https:\/\/www.wpdi.org\/app\/uploads\/1dca487f-6958-3cc0-6e11-4669664adc4c-750x422.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"October 20, 2021\u00a0\u2013 Recently, WPDI concluded its inaugural Business Plan Competition in Uganda\u2019s Karamoja Sub-Region. Conducted amongst six cohorts of trainees that have completed the Business & Entrepreneurship course we offer at our Community Learning Center in Moroto, the sub-region\u2019s capital, the competition resulted in three winners. With it now concluded, they will join the…