Internet data service provider Vodafone Zambia and Ecobank Zambia today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide financial business support worth $50,000 to 250 students at five Universities in Zambia.
Vodafone Zambia which recently launched its 4G data services in Zambia and as part of its strategy, has engaged 250 Brand Ambassadors from institutions of higher learning in Lusaka and the Copperbelt to promote the national youth empowerment agenda.
The institutions whose students will benefit from the scheme are University of Zambia (UNZA), Zambia Centre of Accountancy Services (ZCAS), University of Lusaka (UNILUS), Evelyn Hone College, NIPA in Lusaka as well as Copperbelt University (CBU) and Zambia Institute of Business Studies and Industrial Practice (ZIBSIP) on the Copperbelt.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Vodafone Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Lars Stork said the objective of the scheme is to build talent among the young people and upskill them to become self-reliant entrepreneurs which is vital towards the growth of the economy.
The scheme will provide students with a credit facility of K2,000 that will be availed to each Brand Ambassador to purchase stock from Vodafone at a discounted rate for resale purposes.
By effecting this partnership with Ecobank Zambia, the Brand Ambassadors will be required to sell the connection and propagate the Vodafone brand, 4 G LTE products and services within and outside campus and act as liaison between Vodafone and the student community.
“Vodafone is passionate about youth empowerment and this initiative is a response to government’s call of providing employment to 10.5% of unemployed Zambian youth population. We believe that this scheme will help the youth to step up to the challenge of becoming self-reliant and find innovative means to earn a sustainable income which will not only support them whilst pursuing their studies but will also create a spiral effect of empowering other young people within their communities” said Mr. Stork.
Mr. Stork added that Vodafone has taken a deliberate step to make the empowerment of young people an integral part of the business and has to date, employed 50 graduates under the graduate trainee programme which helps them to gain hands on training whilst upskilling their skills set.
“Vodafone has employed 50 graduate trainees in who will eventually become permanent employees of our organisation. We are proud to announce that so far, we employed nine graduate trainees on a permanent basis since our launch last month,” said Stork.
Mr. Stork expressed gratitude that the partnership will also provide top performing Brand Ambassadors to become sub dealers and will be supported to open registered business and qualify for higher credit facility from Ecobank.
Ecobank Zambia Managing Director Mr. Kola Adeleke said that Ecobank, being a Pan African Bank with presence in 36 African countries, is happy to partner with Vodafone in this entrepreneurial and youth empowerment scheme.
Mr Adeleke also confirmed the Bank’s contribution towards reduction of the unemployment rate by embarking on a graduate trainee scheme. Seventeen fresh graduates from the University of Zambia, Copperbelt University and ZCAS have so far benefited from the scheme.
Pictures Courtesy of Jean Mandela
Look at the strategy.Meanwhile the other network providers have been selfish and cant read between the lines.2years from now,it will be these very kids that apply to ZICTA for Vodafone to become and full network operator and emerge as Zambian’s Leading voice & data operator.If you dont know then wait & keepng on being a spectator.This strategy is a working one,it has never failed anywhere in the world and No politician can say no to this.vodafone will very very soon be applying for a voice licence but thru these kids.Watch the space!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Speed ni zeeeeee! Can hardly remember the last time I bought bundles from my voice network provider!
Is this a joke..$50,000 for student funding and you are giving them publicity; if you had smart brains in govt they would march every funding scheme to encourage business to participate.
To me this looks more like a Pyramid scheme. Organisations recruit people to make money rather than selling a legitimate product or service. They will claim you can work on your own time, recruit your family and friends or sell to whom you know first which is your family and friends right? These young people will at the beginning do all the hard work while this organisation starts to grow and make a huge profit. Meanwhile the very hard working people barely make it and sometimes give up when they cannot generate sales or recruit other people. In the end the firm still wins now imagine if they have the same setup in other African countries! Although a nice job creation strategy this is food for thought. Good luck guys.
Most British companies are Capitalists and Imperialistic in nature,they care only about themselves first before anyone else.So this is not a job creation strategy,this is a vodafone strategy to fully enter the Zambia data market and eventually the voice market.This is modern colonisation.They dont come with a Bible and a Gun anymore,they now come in form of companies.Why students,cos they are the ones that dont understand the work rights and laws that protect workers.SO its easier to use them and later jst dump them when Vodafone has gotten its profits.These kids are jst being used.Like someone has mentioned above-This is purely a Pyramid scheme.It is illegal!
Just look at the face of that CEO in the picture above.DO you think for once that u can get a fair deal from this guy?
$50,000 divided by 250 students gives you $200,and exactly K2000.This is the money some Universities are giving students as student allowances.There is no news here,Lusaka times-next!
VODAFONE IMPERIALISTS!!!!!!!!!!
Zambians first you complain about your network providers, now someone comes in to actually try and do some CSR, you are not happy. Bharti Airtel and Mtn are doing what exactly, paying peanuts/not at all with MTN workers going on strike not so long ago. Even in the west,the people who make money are the sales people, ie you don’t do the job for a basic wage,ultimately you will always make more money for the company. @ Redbull its highly unlikely that Vodafone will acquire the voice license because of the following factors : Current 2 providers Bharti airtel and Mtn had first mover advantage and despite the poor service delivery have pumped in alot of money which boma has never equaled, Mobile voice is approaching saturation in Zambia so growth in the next 5 years is all about data, and…