Youth Co:Lab Samoa continues to thrive
On the photo, from left to right: Lote Lima, Member Services Manager for Samoa Chamber of Commerce; Afamasaga Rico Tupa’i, Minister of Communications and Information Technology; Mose Mose, Founder of Makeki Online; and Adeline Hunkin.
The Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Afamasaga Rico Tupa’i handed over a Macbook valued at ST$5,000 to a young entrepreneur Mose Mose, who is the founder of the online Facebook platform ‘Makeki Online.’ The laptop was donated at the Digital Pacific ICT Conference held in Samoa in June 2018 following Mose’s pitch to the conference participants. Mose was one of three winners who were awarded a grant from UNDP to assist with the development of their business idea/pitch.
“On behalf of the Government of Samoa and the Samoa Chamber of Commerce, I would like to acknowledge Ms. Catherine Fritz-Kalish of Global Access Partners, ICDP and Pacific Connect for their generous donation to our young entrepreneur Mose Mose (Makeki Online),” said Afamasaga Rico Tupa’i.
“Mose told me that he needed a laptop for his new project ‘Employ mai,’ so when I walked up to the podium, I pitched his request to the participants that attended the Digital Pacific ICT Conference in June this year, and fortunately for us, this good Samaritan was in the crowd, and she heeded our request for assistance. So it gives me great pleasure to present this donated Macbook to Mose. I am adamant that this will assist him greatly in his work for Makeki Online and the development of his app ‘Employ Mai’, which aims to address the issue of unemployment in Samoa.”
The Samoa Chamber of Commerce also acknowledged the generous donation made by Catherine Fritz-Kalish of Global Access Partners, ICDP and Pacific Connect with high hopes that it will add value to the work that Mose does for the Samoa community.
This year, the Samoa Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) hosted the first ever Youth Co:Lab Samoa Workshop in the Pacific region. Twenty young Samoans with a passion for social innovation and entrepreneurship were part of this inaugural program, and they were able to discuss ideas as well as well as solutions to national, regional, and/or global challenges.
Youth Co: Lab Samoa continues to grow with increasing opportunities and donations for its members. Since its establishment, Youth Co: Lab Samoa has received the following opportunities for its members:
- Two participants attended Asia Pacific Youth Forum held in Beijing August 2018 – Mose Mose and Esmeralda Lo Tam (finalist in the Youth Forum)
- Etuale Scanlan – to attend Young ICT Leaders’ Forum and YILF Challenge 2018 in Republic of Korea in September
- Olisana Mariner – to attend the Pacific Connect Forum in Sydney, Australia in September
The Youth Co:Lab aims to provide opportunities for Samoa’s youth to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals through leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship. The Samoa Chamber of Commerce with the support of the UNDP will continue to implement more Youth Co:Labs for youth and young entrepreneurs.
Media release, courtesy of the Government of Samoa, and Samoa Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
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