SUBJECT: START YOUR OWN BUSINESS COMPETITION REGESTERS MASSIVE PARTICIPATION



For More Information Contact: Fernando Balderrama Private Sector Foundation Uganda P.O.Box 7683 Kampala Tel: 0414 230956/342163 Mobile: 0754 215066 Email: fernando.balderrama@gmail.com

Subject: Start Your Business Competition Registers Massive Participation

KAMPALA, Uganda – The inaugural national business plan competition organized by the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) has received an overwhelming response in the first phase of the competition that ended on March 31, 2008.

The Start Your Business Competition attracted over 4,000 submissions, greatly surpassing the set target of 1,000. Entries were received from all parts of the country from Arua to Tororo to Kabale to Kampala, with interests in sectors as diverse as: manufacturing, agriculture, health, biofuels and carbon finance, among others.

Preliminary evaluation of the entries has been conducted by a team of 12 judges, headed by Dr. Jan Martin Witte (Global Public Policy Institute), using set guidelines geared at pre-qualifying promising entrants into the next round of the competition. Pre-qualified applicants will have the opportunity to fine-tune their business ideas and turn them into business concepts. They will be assisted by a range of technical materials which will be made available on our website (www.startyourbusiness.ug) on April 22. “We have short-listed 2,954 entrants because we want to give everyone who showed interest and potential a chance to prepare business concepts that can be readily implemented,” says Fernando Balderrama, the Project Manager, Start Your Business Competition.

The competition is aimed at supporting entrepreneurship development and the establishment of new enterprises by Ugandans. The Start Your Business Competition targets rising entrepreneurs above the age of 18. The top business entries will be selected to put their ideas into action and a grand prize of US$ 50,000 is up for grabs for the best business idea.

Pre-qualified participants have been notified through the post, the internet and via SMS. Guidelines for the next phase of the Start Your Business Competition will be found through this notification. The process of turning business ideas into business concepts will take aspiring entrepreneurs through the rewarding path of planning, while ensuring that our judges and reviewers are able to conduct an objective and transparent evaluation process to determine business viability.

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