Guided by an entrepreneurial spirit, dozens of young people have been paying attention to the initiatives launched by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneurship in partnership with UNDP, which annually launches initiatives to encourage young people about entrepreneurship.

Abdulay Rosa, is a young man who discovered at an early age the importance of entrepreneurship as a tool for the development of the country. The term Entrepreneur is directly linked to the person who achieves, who produces new ideas through the congruence between creativity and imagination.

Through daily experience, the young entrepreneur identified a lack of natural and healthy drinks, a large amount of waste derived from green coconuts, a lack of use of biodegradable materials in commerce, a lack of current coconut production and unemployment that has increased thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Reflecting on the contribution of young people in society and how they can through entrepreneurship change the situation of not only their communities but also the country, Abdulay proposed to create a business that could ensure a greater supply of 100% natural coconut water.

For him, succeeding would mean turning green coconut waste into Tubete, into Organic compost and producing coconut trees so that there will be no shortage of coconut trees in the coming years, thus creating new jobs.

This is how Coco Expres STP came about, an initiative that aims to promote self-employment by marketing green coconut water spreading its benefit to health and well-being.

In 2020, MJDE and UNDP launched Empreende Jovem, with the aim of developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem of São Tomé and Príncipe through a platform of incubators, which are spaces where there will be means and personnel available to work with entrepreneurs both in developing their ideas and in monitoring their businesses.

Lay, as he is known by his friends and family, signed up for the Programme Empreende Jovem with the intention of solving an identified problem and creating new jobs for his community.

He presented his idea and competed along with hundreds of other young people to find grants and training to implement his business.

After being selected, the young entrepreneur received funding and is in the implementation phase of his business. Currently, he is building his office and warehouse to store his goods.

Despite the efforts of MJDE and UNDP, a large fringe of the youth layer is looking for their first job and without ideas of starting their own business, but through the various programmes to encourage and foster entrepreneurship, many of them are being trained on the subject thus paving the way to create their own jobs.

It is important to ensure that young people living in the most remote communities of the country are informed, trained and listened to as a solution for the development of Sao Tome and Principe.

Following the project Empreende Jovem, the MJDE and the UNDP in partnership with the operator UNITEL-STP and the BGFI-Bank are creating in the country undertakings capable of fostering the entrepreneurial culture and the creation of new opportunities for entrepreneurs.

It is the construction of a network of Incubators (in Sao Tome and Principe) that are being installed in the country as an alternative for the development of new businesses, jobs and income.

A business/enterprise incubator is an institution with the objective of preparing, strengthening and giving support to micro and small enterprises that are in the initial phase so that they survive in the market.

Incubators offer business management services, technical support and complementary training for entrepreneurs by means of a structured physical space with meeting rooms, internet and access to tools and equipment that are offered to new companies. Moreover, it is also done through administrative services such as financial management, marketing, market analysis and legal assistance.

The target public that characterises this initiative is made up of students, scientists, entrepreneurs, companies that wish to develop new projects, products and services based on innovative technology. Incubators constitute a planned space that, among other things, avoids the early failure of businesses and collaborates with their strengthening within the market.

In São Tomé and Príncipe, incubators are not-for-profit and are a tool to help young people connect with other projects and entrepreneurs through technology.