Blog

In 2020, Asante became the first organisation in Kenya to trial Prince’s Trust International’s Enterprise Challenge programme, which enables budding entrepreneurs to develop practical business skills through coaching, mentoring, and a virtual business simulation game.

Susan (20) lives in Turkana County, Kenya’s poorest region, with her parents and siblings. A remote, drought-prone area, Turkana is too dry to grow many crops successfully, so people rely on buying food rather than growing it.

Asante Africa trialled the programme with young people in their after-school clubs, and Susan was among the first intake. ‘It was a really useful programme,’ she explains simply, ‘It changed my life because it enabled me to start my business.’

When Covid restrictions meant her parents’ work dried up, Susan stepped up to support her family. Her idea, inspired by the food business she’d trialled in the Enterprise Challenge programme, was to set up a food stall of her own, sourcing fruit and vegetables from wholesalers and reselling them locally.

“Education makes dreams come true. Parents shouldn’t say no to girls. Girls can make it. I’d like to thank both my parents for their hard work supporting my education and supporting me in my business – and for being proud of me.”