Page 10 - Big Ideas | Issue 1

Big Ideas
Student Business Support
In the last 6 months we have done some tremendous work on the support component of our mission statement. In
August we saw the opening of one of the first student businesses (ZNZ Msuo Juice Bar).
Feisal, our student who opened this business, worked with us on creating a business plan and putting together materials for his potential investor. We then worked with Feisal on a number of other business-related activities as he secured financing through a German investor. We’re very proud of Feisal and the great
juices & smoothies that he makes for tourists and the local Zanzibari community.
To learn more about Feisal’s business, ZNZ Msuo Juice Bar, see page 13 in this newsletter.
Ashrina, another one of our students, received financing for her business idea, Green Gold Spice Farm, through a program offered by the Canadian NGO we partner with, EqwipHubs. We were lucky enough to attend the event where she received her award and are looking forward to helping her as she builds and grows her business. She is currently working for a local tour operator as she prepares to launch her business.
We’ve also helped a number of other individuals with designing websites for their businesses, registering their businesses with the government, and increasing their TripAdvisor ratings. One of our beneficiaries, Abdul-Nassir, was able to improve the TripAdvisor ranking for his tour & taxi service company from 97 to 36 (out of 124) during the time we worked with him.
Dida is a local artist we worked with to help secure funding for her trip to Hong Kong. Dida was the only artist from Zanzibar selected to display her work at an
international exposition in Hong Kong at the end of May. This international exposure has helped her grow her business of selling her original artwork to tourists in Zanzibar.
We’ve also worked with a student who opened his own mini-mart catering to tourists and locals on the eastern side of the island, another student who provides career coaching for youth and locals entering the tourist sector, and a tour guide who offers a number of tours on the East Coast of Zanzibar. We’re looking forward to helping more of our students and local entrepreneurs as they start their own small tourism businesses – and we’re
looking forward to sharing their successes with you!