Introducing Mibagu entrepreneur’s online portal
By Roseline Tosun |
On 25 March 2022 we launched a website, namely mibagu.com. This website was created to cater to the needs of entrepreneurs within Namibia as well as those in the diaspora.
According to a report published by the Namibian Statistics Agency the unemployment rate in Namibia was at 33.4% in the year 2018. Furthermore, there were reports in the media indicating that this figure would increase to more than 50% by the year 2023.
Although these statistics paint a grim picture of the economy of Namibia, we believe that the opposite is also possible. “Mibagu” is a word from the Khoekhoe language that means “tell each other”.
At Mibagu we believe that if we can create a network that brings entrepreneurs, investors, educational societies and business regulatory bodies together we can help empower entrepreneurs and also expedite the process of employment creation.
The current pressing issues that most entrepreneurs experience are, the fear of failure and a lack of funding.
Currently most institutions only fund businesses with collateral and the same institutions also state that they require a life cover as a prerequisite to funding but how do you pay for the cover if you don’t have an income?
And one of the biggest challenges that entrepreneurs face is also a lack of marketing skills. Good marketing is pivotal to the success of any business, as they say, you can have a great idea but if no one knows about it, it does not exist.
At Mibagu we hope to resolve this by providing a space for mentoring and by being a portal for information exchange. This is also a platform where farmers can sell their produce and connect with other farmers and agriculture experts.
For many years we were taught at school that we could become teachers, doctors and accountants but we were not told we could own those schools or medical facilities. I hope the current youth of Namibia know this and are also motivated.
We hope that our platform will encourage entrepreneurs to focus on creating legacy businesses and that it will create a culture that the current and future youth will be inspired by.
Social media has a very big influence on the way the youth perceive things so we aim to also promote agriculture and farming as a means to serve the communities and make them attractive to the youth.
According to current business statistics one third of all small businesses fail in the first two years and within the first 5 years more than half of all newly started companies fail. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t start, but that failure is part of the learning process.
I myself am also new to this, I failed a few times and with the help of mentors I managed to get back up again. Imagine how many people are out there just shooting in the dark with no guidance, with their wonderful ideas that can change our lives? If that person gets paired with a good mentor even for one day it will make a big difference.
Our main focus will be on empowering Namibian entrepreneurs but we will also illuminate Namibian-made products by creating special labels for companies that manufacture products within Namibia. The Namibian citizens should become aware of which raw materials are available within Namibia and what can be produced from them.
There are also a lot of gaps in the Namibian market that are waiting to be filled and these are a few examples: natural hair salons, family entertainment, adventure parks, Namibian paraphernalia shops, vegan and other types of culinary provisions just to mention a few.
So, we encourage all experienced and aspiring entrepreneurs to come to our platform and help us create a transformation in the job market.
In conclusion, we hope that this platform will be a successful driving force in creating the much-needed change in Namibia. With www.mibagu.com this is the beginning of great things we will achieve together as entrepreneurs and economic stakeholders.
– Mrs Roseline Tosun is the CEO of Tosun Investments cc and the founder of Mibagu. She can be reached at: info@mibagu.com
