Posted October 2008

A new partnership linking young people in the United States and Kenya will help both groups learn the value of venture capital investments.

Students at a Georgia high school are investing money in a small business run by a young entrepreneur in a remote, impoverished part of Kenya. The students will own a share of the company and receive annual dividends from its profits. The amount of money is not large, but the life lessons could be.

"This is the kind of partnership that will excite young people in both countries about the power of business to transform lives and communities," said Michael Nyenhuis, executive director of The J9 Foundation.

The J9 Foundation, in partnership with Nairobi-based Community Aid International, runs a program to train and equip young adults in Kenya’s Bondo District to launch successful micro-enterprises and small- and medium-sized businesses. Each year 30 young people are trained and provided loans to begin their enterprises.

This year, the foundation has struck a partnership with the Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA) chapter at Glynn Academy High School in Brunswick, Ga. FBLA-PBL is a nationwide student association with more than 250,000 members preparing for business-related careers.

In its partnership with The J9 Foundation, the Glynn Academy FBLA-PBL chapter will invest up to $500 in one of the businesses run by a J9 Entrepreneur trained in 2007. The young people from the 2007 class run businesses including retail shop-keeping, wholesale supply, hair salons, various forms of agri-business from poultry farming to produce production, the fish trade along Lake Victoria and more.

Up to five of the most successful entrepreneurs whose businesses are in need of another capital infusion are being invited to submit applications for funding to the FBLA-PBL chapter. Student members of the chapter will then review the applications

The chapter will then actually own an interest valued at 35,000 Kenyan shillings (about $500) in the company. This ownership stake will entitle the chapter to an annual dividend equal to five percent of the investment as long as the company is making a profit. The chapter also will be able to sell its ownership stake at some point.

Already, the Glynn Academy FBLA-PBL faculty advisor has introduced the idea to the statewide FBLA-PBL organization with an eye toward expanding it to other student chapters.

"The American students will get a taste of what it is like to review funding applications and choose the best investment. They will also be very interested to follow the success of the small Kenyan business because they will be part-owners," Nyenhuis said. "On the Kenyan side, our J9 Entrepreneurs will learn what it is like to compete for investment funds and then keep their investors happy. This is a real win-win."

Also in discussion is a trip by the American students to visit the Kenyan entrepreneurs.