The fourth edition of the National Leadership Engine (NLE) project culminated on Saturday 21 January at the seat of the National Productivity and Competitiveness Council (NPCC), in Ebène. The grand winner and the two runners-up were announced on that occasion and were awarded with a cash prize of Rs 75 000, Rs 50 000 and Rs 25 000 respectively.
The winners are as follows:
- Grand Winner: Nu-Nat-li project – use of locally sourced raw material – vacoas – with low CO2 footprint and biodegradable – to design and create new-end products – Grand Port region
- Second Winner: SoilStrong project – to bolster the image of farmer from ‘planter’ to ‘food hero’ – Moka region
- Third Winner: SaVer Banane – production of banana flour – Savanne region
NLE 2022 was organised by the NPCC in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Recreation. The project aims at creating a pipeline of leaders to achieve higher productivity and better living for the nation.
More than 200 youth enrolled for the training in the following regions namely, Black River, Upper Plaines Wilhems, Lower Plaines Wilhems, Port Louis, Pamplemmousses, Flacq, Rivière du Rempart, Grand Port, Savanne and Moka.
Youth aged 16 and above were empowered with personal and social competences which they had to demonstrate by conceptualising and implementing community-based projects in their locality. The training for youth was completed in September 2022, followed by regional assessments of projects and a national assessment that were held in October and November 2022 respectively. A total of 30 community based projects were presented in NLE 2022. The projects focused on a range of issues pertaining to the environment, animal rights, mental health amongst others.
The Executive Director of the NPCC, Mr. Ashit Gungah, in his opening remarks, stressed on the importance of keeping the right balance when it comes to our personal, professional and social lives. He also exhorted the youth to take initiatives to fight the drug scourge in Mauritius and network among themselves to find sustainable solutions to the challenges in the areas of climate change, geopolitical tensions, health and environment.
The minister of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives, Honorable Soomilduth Bholah, explained how the Ministry is sparing no effort to encourage young people to embark on a journey of entrepreneurship. He cited areas such as Information and Communication Technology, renewable energy, agriculture as well as artificial intelligence where young people can get involved as entrepreneurs.
“We need our youth with an innovative mindset to create a new generation of entrepreneurs. Moreover, I commend the determination of our youth to develop solutions in their own ways to tackle issues in the society”, Honorable Bholah said in his speech.
The NLE 2022 Convention was also marked by an online motivational speech by Mr. Marius Frey, a Swiss expert in the field of innovation and coach. Mr. Frey spoke about the importance of servant leadership. The servant leadership style is based on the idea that leaders prioritise serving the greater good. Leaders with this style serve their team and organisation first.
