“Being an entrepreneur is a big task. If you want to start a business, it's essential to learn the necessary skills that underpin these qualities”, says Rui Jorge, a 21-year-old graduate from the Suzete Delgado secondary school, where, alongside other traditional disciplines, entrepreneurship is included as an integral part of the curriculum.
Jorge is one of 3,500 beneficiaries of the Entrepreneurship Curriculum Programme developed in Cabo Verde by UNIDO. It gives pupils the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary to start and run a business. The programme began in 2013 and is now implemented in 42 schools across the archipelago of ten islands off the west coast of Africa.
Straight after graduating from the school, Jorge followed his entrepreneurial dream and together with his brother, who had learnt to produce essential oils and extracts for perfumes, developed a start-up venture specialized in hand-made botanical skincare products and perfumes. Today, they already have an important local supermarket selling their products.