When we think about business, we also need to consider thinking about the crucial role business networking plays in business. This is a process businesses use to achieve business and career growth.  Such as people with the same interests in the business industry gather in a certain space to assist and help themselves in the business world. They also establish a mutual yet beneficial relationship with other businesspeople or potential clients or customers.

Mafoa ‘a e Ata young participants had the opportunity of gathering for a business networking event that will benefit them as young entrepreneurs. TYEE hosted this event with the purpose of the Mafoa 'a e Ata participants to gain fresh ideas from other businesses, also gain more knowledge, get business advice and support, also develop their social skills and lastly, build relationships.

However, businesses were invited to the Mafoa ‘a e Ata Business Networking event which included business leaders, ceos, and youth entrepreneurs. Guests started arriving at the TYEE Youth Career Centre at Mataika, Nuku'alofa where the event took place at 5pm and were placed for seating. As we all know how the ‘Tongan time’ operates, we waited for more guests including guest speakers to arrive before we were able to start the event.

While awaiting the rest of the guests to arrive, our guest speaker that was present on the day is a youth entrepreneur for which we are thankful for, Ms Lesieli Kafa, Owner of Raleny.  As she was placed for seating, our Mafoa ‘a e Ata business networking event took off with an opening prayer that was conducted by one of our guests on the day, a youth entrepreneur, Mr Fangatapu Finau, Manager of Finau Agricultural Farmwork.

The Welcoming remarks were conducted virtually on Zoom by Ms Esther Bates, GGGI's Pacific Green Entrepreneurs Network Project Manager followed by an introduction by the Director of TYEE, Lusia Latu-Jones. Mafoa ‘ a e Ata participants were then called up front individually to present themselves with a short introduction.

Moving on, our guest speaker for the day, Ms Lesieli Kafa (27) started her speech with a short introduction. She then later elaborated upon the small business that she manages alongside her sister. They are both young entrepreneurs that started their business brand "Raleny” which are products made out of unused clothes, such as scrunchies, bags, masks, etc.

Ms Kafa concluded her speech with a message to never look down upon anyone and always help out if someone needs it. Ms Kafa expressed upon her struggles trying to make a living for herself, and she left that message upon the rest of the guests in the room.

Mafoa ‘a e Ata participants and Guest Speaker were then given the time to interact upon Questions and Answers. The closing prayer and blessing of the refreshment was handled by the TYEE program assistant, Mr. Sebastian Sila and was followed by a vote of thanks by the TYEE Director, Lusia Latu-Jones.

Nevertheless, refreshments were made available and business networking became present. Mafoa ‘a e Ata participants and other business folks socialized with each other while having their refreshments. During their interaction, a youth member from the BSP Bank, Mr Filisione Manufekai spoke upon his experience with TYEE as the reason behind his employment at the BSP Bank is because of TYEE’s program and help, and for that he is grateful.

As the event flows, Mrs Haley Takau, Entrepreneur English Tutor wanted to share a piece of advice with the young entrepreneurs saying to give their customers a little treat when they are being loyal to their business. "When you have customers, treat them well", she stated. This is her way of keeping customer loyalty and showing them that they are appreciated for choosing her service.

Mr Neil Jones, Tonga Power NNUP Project Leader conducted a few words stating how pleased he is with the creativity that youths bring in the room. Through his experiences and expertise as an entrepreneur, he gave a few words of advice towards the youths in the room, highlighting the importance of working hard for what you want. “Once you start having these ideas, once you start believing in what you’re doing, never stop and you’ll be amazed in what you can achieve”, he added. He elaborated more upon the multiple times he has fallen over during his entrepreneurial journey, yet he learned from them, he added that “the more you do, the more you learn”. Mr Jones then concluded his message by stating to the youths to put their heart 110% into what they do, and they will do well.

On the other hand, Mr Pesalili Takau, Tonga Power NNUP Project employee shared upon his experience with TYEE since their establishment. He then shared how amused he is to witness the number of female entrepreneurs in the room and showed his appreciation of that by raising a toast to women who are striving in the business world.

To end the event, our previous guest speaker from the Mafoa 'a e Ata meet and greet brunch Ms Cassandra Lupe’eva Moala-Mafi, Owner of Prestige shared upon how proud she is with the Mafoa ‘a e Ata participants showcasing how confident they became since their last meet up. She elaborated upon how she relates to the youth entrepreneur guest speaker of the evening Ms Lesieli Kafa. She went on with sharing how they share the same story upon the reason behind their business start-up, “everyone has their own story to tell”, she stated. She concluded the evening with her speech by encouraging others in the room to be more involved in functions held by TYEE, especially business networking, as this has many benefits for them and their businesses.  

NUKU’ALOFA, Saturday 13th November 2021: Mafoa ‘a e Ata’s Participants Meet and Greet Brunch

What an event!

A room full of bold, passionate & innovative minds!

While streaming through our Mafoa ‘a e Ata journey, it is with great pleasure to say that our participants have finally met each other physically. Our meet and greet brunch has gathered together youths that are full of braveness, discovery minds and values.  As we gathered our Mafoa ‘a e Ata participants’ in one room, humour becomes present and for this, our event was as bright, successful and most importantly, youthful.

Participants arrived earliest at 9.30 am, they were greeted by our TYEE family, followed by a photo session, and were placed for seating. As everyone gathered, we awaited our two guest speakers, which we are thankful for, Mrs. ‘Ioana Sugar (Owner, South Seas Trading, Tonga Ltd) & Ms Cassandra Lupe’eva Moala-Mafi (Managing Director/Youth Entrepreneur, Prestige).

Opening prayer and welcoming remarks were conducted by the TYEE Director (Mrs Lusia Latu-Jones) and followed by our Mafoa ‘a e Ata participants’ short individual introduction.  

Ms Cassandra Lupe’eva Moala-Mafi (29) took off as our first guest speaker for the day. She delivered herself with an introduction and spoke on why, how, when and where her business took place. Ms Cassandra is currently running her own marketing and promotion business named 'Prestige' and is going on 10 years of operation. Ms Cassandra stated that her entrepreneurial journey started at the age of 19 and was indeed refreshing to hear upon her story. Ms Cassandra’s story touched youths with the message of having to stay motivated and knowing that no matter what age they are in, the day they choose to become an entrepreneur is the day they will have to accept and adapt to the change that comes with it.

As Ms Cassandra shared more upon herself, she highlighted the importance of having a positive mindset and how to stay innovative. She stated that having a positive mindset can go a long way, it does not matter what you do but if you stay positive, everything will fall into place. Also, to finish off her presentation she elaborated more upon innovation, she stated that “innovation comes from innovative thinking, and if you are ready to be different, you have to be prepared for change”.

On the other hand, Mrs. ‘Ioana Sugar (52), our second guest speaker, began her presentation with a short emotional introduction of herself upon who she is, what she does for a living and how it is today. Mrs Sugar elaborated upon her entrepreneurial journey which started 28 years ago (1993) alongside her husband. They took the risk of leaving their day-to-day jobs and opened a small brewery and liquor store that brews and sells alcohol, both retail and wholesale across Tonga. She highlighted the struggles of having a business start-up upon the first 5 years of operation but with the right mindset, consistency and supporting partner, everything will take shape.

Furthermore, Mrs Sugar highlighted the importance of fighting for what you want. She stated that if you have a goal for yourself, you have to be willing to believe in yourself, tackle obstacles along the way and fight for it. Going on with Mrs Sugar's speech, she indicated that sacrificing and moving towards committing to your work is also very vital for a successful business,"…youths nowadays have to be aware of this", she said. She also added on how crucial it is for an entrepreneur to be aware of the people he/she is surrounded with.  Speaking of her experience over the years as a business person, she stated that a person must have a supportive surrounding. "Your friends and family should be your first customers, not your first debtor", she stated.

Nevertheless, taking care of employees can go a long way, Mrs Sugar directed. "Make sure to take care of your employees and they will take care of your customers, make them happy and they will make you and your customers happy” she expressed. Everyone in the room nodded their heads as they agreed.

She concluded her speech upon the great value of having a supportive partner. She specified that it is very important for a business person to have a supportive partner that has the same business mindset as you and who will be a backbone upon what you do. She indicated that she and her husband have been operating their business for a long period because they both love and value what they worked hard for.
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After the presentations of guest speakers took place, participants Q & A discussions with guest speakers led on. Questions were asked from our Mafoa ‘a e Ata participants and were discussed with guest speakers, such as what are the challenges they face nowadays and how they dealt with them, also what they look for in employees when hiring, etc.

Both guest speakers gave a slice of their expertise and experience to answer each question given. They highlighted the biggest challenge both their businesses is facing today and that is the effect of the global pandemic. Ms Cassandra sounded that her business used to focus on international tourists as her target market but with the borders closed, she had no choice but to reconstruct her business and set the local tourists as her target market. “This is another way of me being innovative", Ms Cassandra stated as an example of being innovative upon her action towards reconstructing her business due to the pandemic.  As for Mrs Sugar, on the other hand, she explained how the Covid-19 pandemic took 40% of her sales on her business, but with hard work and commitment, her business is managing through this difficult time.

Moving on, both guest speakers highlighted the importance of hiring a person that is honest, has a good heart, has genuine intentions and has good morals.  “These are qualities that cannot be taught and if I was to hire someone, these are the things that I will look for in a person", Ms Cassandra voiced. Working with employees that have these qualities will help avoid problems in the future for any workplace and it also enables self-improvement for that person, both guest speakers highlighted.

To end the day, Sebastian Sila, Tyee’s program assistant, delivered a word of thanks towards the participants, guest speakers and sponsors and followed by saying grace to end our successful event. Mafoa ‘a e Ata participants and guest speakers were then given time to have brunch and refreshments.  This was a crucial part of the event so that participants’ can interact with one another and also exchange information with guest speakers and other participants. Our Meet & Greet Brunch ended with a room full of humility, boldness, humorous youths, and interaction of innovative entrepreneurial minds. 

The Mafoa ‘A e Ata – Youth Innovation Challenge Program is proudly brought to you by Tonga Youth Employment & Entrepreneurship Inc. (TYEE) in joint implementation and collaboration with our Partners - Breadfruit Consulting Port Villa, Vanuatu, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI)’s Pacific Green Entrepreneurship Network (PGEN) and supported by Solutions Consulting House in Nuku’alofa.

On 13th October 2021 marked a unique joint implementation of the Global Green Growth Institute’s (GGGI) Pacific Green Entrepreneurs Network (PGEN) Program with their local partner on the ground, Tonga Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship (TYEE). The MoU was signed virtually by Dr. Frank Rijsberman, Director-General of GGGI and Lusia Latu-Jones, President/Director of TYEE. Read more here. Read more here.

This was followed by the Participants’ Orientation Day on 28th October 2021 which was a combined session held virtually and in-person onsite at TYEE. Read more here.

The official kickstart of the Mafoa A e Ata Program in Tonga was held virtually on 2nd November 2021, and during the recent COVID-19 Lockdown on the main island of Tongatapu. Official Partners' Representatives attended the virtual event - Chris Elphick from Breadfruit Consulting, Esther Bates (GGGI's Pacific Green Entrepreneurs Network Project Manager), and William Rolston (GGGI's Senior Officer for the Tonga Program), and Mrs. Sela Bloomfield from Solutions Consulting House, the Participants/Entrepreneurs of the Mafoa A e Ata Program, and the support staff of the Program from TYEE. This was also an opportunity for the Participants to introduce themselves, Partners, and support staff from TYEE.

About Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI):
Based in Seoul, GGGI is an intergovernmental organization that supports governments of developing countries to transition to a model of economic growth that is environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive. GGGI delivers programs in over 40 partner countries with technical support, capacity building, policy planning & implementation, and by helping to build a pipeline of bankable green investment projects. More on GGGI’s events, projects, and publications can be found on www.gggi.org. You can also follow GGGI on Twitter and join us on Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
 
The regional Pacific Green Entrepreneurs Network (PGEN) is a 3-year project funded by the Qatar Fund for Development and implemented by the Global Green Growth Institute in collaboration with in-country partners including Tonga Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship. The Network aims to support green and inclusive job growth by supporting entrepreneurs (particularly women and youth) develop their green and sustainable businesses whose business models include solutions aimed at contributing to their country’s climate and sustainable development goals in Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. For more information, please visit the Pacific Greenpreneurs website.