Mar 9, 2022 – A third consecutive year relationship between WhatsApp and PJI provides an opportunity for PJI’s Alumni of Out of School/ Community Entrepreneurship programs to become Young Entrepreneur Champions – to help build communities of young entrepreneurs by sharing and building entrepreneurship knowledge and skills, providing inspiration and motivation to start small businesses, and/or play a role in bridging and catalysing local MSMEs/cooperatives which require rejuvenation through digitization and onboarding to the digital economy.
Objective: to build skills in digital entrepreneurship among youth segments and nurture young entrepreneurs who are able to help bridge the digital transformation of local SMBs and contribute to real sector economic impact. These initiatives mobilize ‘Best Practices’ identified within the successful PJI/WA project conducted in 2021 but will target a different set of beneficiaries.
These beneficiaries, young entrepreneurs, will be trained to become mentors who will then support peers in developing their own businesses. Additional modules that focus on increasing digital skills in business will also be provided for the target groups given that, based on current data, Indonesia’s MSMEs constitute a primary sector most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Bank Indonesia’s findings stated that 87.5% of MSMEs were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with 93.2% experiencing a decline in sales and operational cash flow because they did not carry out digital transformation. The State Planning Board reported that more than 90% of MSMEs do not use computers and only 10% use the internet in support of business operation. The initiatives supported by WhatsApp will contribute to improving the uptake by MSMEs of digitalization which in turn will address the need identified above.
PJI understands the importance of this undertaking and looks forward to working with young entrepreneurs (including JA Alumni) to promote the understanding and ’take-up’ of digital technologies in support of business operations.
