Three-pronged approach: The youth show off their wheels in South Sudan
An empowerment project has transformed the lives of the 20 young participants, who have already invested their savings in other small businesses
Andrew Ewoku
In many African countries, a lot of people rely on taxi services – whether these be minibuses, motorcycles or even bicycles!
With names ranging from tuk tuks to bodabodas, rickshaws to piki-piki, the various modes provide employment and play an important role in the economy and the taxi industry is a thriving one.
They transport people, and goods to market. In Angola, ForAfrika even has a tuk tuk ambulance carrying mothers to and from clinics.
In South Sudan, trike motorcycles – bajaj – are popular. They are essentially a three-wheeled motorcycle with the back of a pick-up truck trailer. They are small but they pack a mighty punch, which is why ForAfrika, in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) and the European Union Trust Fund (EUTF) has provided these vehicles to youth groups as part of an economic empowerment project.
Three-pronged approach
The project, rather fittingly, pursues a three-pronged approach: it hones the youths’ skills in professional driving and business management, it imparts crucial knowledge on road safety, and it endeavours to facilitate the youth to acquire productive assets.
The project has already proven life-altering for the 20 young participants with each of them now capable of generating 3,500 South Sudanese Pounds (SSP) daily. This translates to a monthly income exceeding 30,000 SSP. The nine women and 11 men have established a governing body tasked with managing the the group’s income and the fleet.
Luka Akol, group secretary, elaborated on their journey, stating: “Having a tricycle has enabled us to have a regular income, and has expanded our business horizons. We’ve also initiated a Loans and Saving Association with the funds we generate each month. To date, we’ve saved 1,029,150 SSP in interest since commencing the loans association. As a collective, we’ve decided not to distribute the generated funds among ourselves but to begin lending to group members who are engaged in small businesses and local entrepreneurs.”
They have already taken additional steps towards diversifying their savings, acquiring 10 goats and 500 kilograms of sorghum to be sold when market conditions are favourable.
Driver Santino Lual shared his gratitude, saying: “We are immensely thankful to ForAfrika for the tricycles. This initiative has created employment opportunities for us, and as an ordinary village youth, I had never envisioned becoming a driver being able to earn about 3,000 SSP a day!”
Andrew Ewoku is Communications Specialist in South Sudan
