Young people in Sierra Leone are eager to enter the workforce and others are looking at entrepreneurship as an alternative career option, but many still lack the essential entrepreneurial and career experience and capacity to become successful business owners and entry-level career professionals.
In 2019, Work Ready Africa was founded in Sierra Leone to serve as an employability and further learning training institution to address key employment gaps for employed persons, graduates, qualified job seekers, and final year higher learning students (college/university) across Sub-Saharan Africa. In their pursuit to capacitate these targeted groups with adequate work-ready skills and provide entry into the job market, Work Ready Africa empowers young professionals by providing structured human capital development skills, business and entrepreneurship training, and development support services for young people in Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
The key services that Work Ready Africa provide includes:
- The Flagship Boot Camp Program – (Sierra Leone & Nigeria) – This four months intensive training and assessment program aims to produce work-ready graduates that have expertise in entrepreneurial leadership, communication skills, project management capabilities, and the ability to make data-driven decisions.
- Quick Books Training Program – (Sierra Leone & Nigeria) – WRA uses Intuit QuickBooks program package with a 16-course training model design. The models are the blueprint that provides the opportunity for users of QuickBooks to learn the different aspects of QuickBooks Functionalities. The program trains students through 16 models within 40 hours of concentrated practical training. Models 1 to 11 covers beginner & intermediary levels and 12 to 16 covers the advanced levels.
- Work Ready Short Courses – (Sierra Leone & Nigeria) – WRA short courses covers a wide range of soft skills and digital literacy training, information, advice, guidance, and access to training resources and related support networks. E.g. Time Management; HR Management; Negation Skills; Leadership Skills; Communication; Business Writing; Basic Bookkeeping; Microsoft Packages (Basic & Intermediary); Presentation Skills; Proposal & Report Writing; QuickBooks Intermediate & Advanced; Budget &Financial Reporting; Internal Control Processes; Supply Chain Management; Contract Management.
- Work Ready Internships & Employment Opportunity- WRA works with beneficiaries to help them secure internship opportunities with employers who will monitor their performance during the internship period with the aim of offering them full-time employment at the end based on their performance.
- Work Ready Mentorship Program – Our mentors help beneficiaries understand more fully their socioeconomic environment and business ecosystem both locally and internationally in a structured format. Mentors also support beneficiaries in developing and advancing their personal attributes and professional career.
- Business Development Services – WRA employs a variety of business development service implementation methods for our entrepreneurship program activities to address key gaps affecting SMEs and Startups. The program activities aim to address these gaps by focusing on key business development service component areas including Business Development and Growth Training; Access to information through expert and mentorship engagement activities; Technology development and transfer; Access to profitable markets through networking, sales, and marketing activities; and Consultancy, counseling, admin, technical and financial service support.
Work Ready Africa (WRA) believes in developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem as a way to create career alternatives for young people. In this respect, they designed the Entrepreneurship Development Service Programs which aims to address key administrative, technical, and capacity-building gaps that many SMEs and Startups across Sub-Saharan Africa face preventing them from scaling and competing in the local, regional, and further extent global marketplace.
Along with their partners (The Sierra Leone Economic Diversification Program – SLEDP; The Sierra Leone Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency – SMEDA; Arizona State University; iSpace Ghana; hapaSpace Innovation Hub Ghana; mHub Zambia; Central University Sierra Leone; University of Makeni; and The International School Of Advertising – ISA Kenya), and other experts, WRA provides entrepreneurs, SMEs, and start-ups business development services including mentorship, coaching, and human capacity building training, incubation and accelerator support. These programs tap into building administrative, technical, professional services, and training capacity of businesses which in return will lead to job creation and contribute to the economy and strengthening of the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Work Ready programs are tailored to be delivered both virtually and in person.
Over the last 3 years, Work Ready Africa has directly impacted over 450 young people with an 80% progression to full-time employment rate for those who successfully complete the WRA Bootcamp program and internship opportunity. WRA currently has a gender disparity of 60% male to 40% female and it is projected to increase that by at least 30% over the next year.
To learn more about their upcoming programs and services, Contact them at +232 80 327 327 or via email at workreadyhq@gmail.com, www.workreadyafrica.net, or Follow them on social media @workreadyafrica
