24 Mar 2013

 

Preparations for the 2013 Junior Chamber International (JCI) Africa and Middle East conference to be held in Botswana are in full swing.

The conference, the first of its kind in the country, to be held from May 8 to 11, aims to provide opportunities that will empower young people for positive change.

JCI Botswana falls under the Africa Middle East region, hence the 2013 JCI Africa and Middle East conference.

Conference director, Mr Uyapo Letsholo told a press conference that they have so far managed to promote the meeting to about 4000 delegates at the JCI World Congress that took place in Taipei in November last year.

Mr Letsholo also said as part of the preparations, they attended national conventions of South Africa and Zimbabwe on benchmarking purposes.

So far, he said registration for the conference was nearing 200 while they have also launched a regularly updated website. 

However, Mr Letsholo said over 700 delegates from across Africa and Middle East and some from Asia, Europe and America are expected to attend the four-day meet.

The conference, he added, will also be open to JCI non-members and was a great opportunity for private sector, youth in business and government to further engage one another on business issues.

“It is also a great platform for exchange and business trade or networking for Batswana with the rest of the world,” Mr Letsholo said.

He added that the meeting will also be an opportunity for young Batswana to be trained on issues of entrepreneurship, leadership and management, among others.

Meanwhile, the JCI executive vice president, Ms Rania Haddad said each member shared the belief that in order to create lasting positive change, they must improve themselves and the world around them.

Ms Haddad also said members seek targeted solutions to the unique problems in their communities to build a better world, thus creating global impact.

JCI is a membership-based, non-profit organisation of 200 000 young people of ages 18 to 40 in 5000 communities and more than 100 countries around the world. ENDS