VCCI empowers seasonal workers with business and investment skills
March 26, 2025 10:09 pm | Posted in Business News | Share now TwitterFacebook
By Nicholas Mwai.
The Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has provided coaching and skills development to a selected group of labour mobility Team Leaders so that they are better able to support members of their teams that they are traveling with to develop their goals, both investment and business-related, while away in New Zealand and Australia on seasonal work programmes.
“Team Leaders are the unsung heroes of labour mobility, they aren’t often recognised for the additional work they do and the additional responsibilities they carry by providing pastoral care and support to fellow ni-Vanuatu team members who have often never traveled out of Vanuatu before,” says Esther Wenau, Programme Lead on the Worker Ready Investment programme. “They are selected as Team Leaders for showing they have the advanced skills required to lead others and mentor their ni-Vanuatu brothers and sisters while overseas.”
For the past four years, VCCI has been coaching business men and women using a business planning model called the Business CANVAS – this ‘plan on one page,’ referred to as a CANVAS, supports an individual, family, or business to think through their business model, including important factors like goal setting, customer identification, and financial management. Given its success as an approach from the grassroots level up, VCCI has used the CANVAS as a basis for providing these selected Team Leaders with training-of-trainer skills so they can work through basic business planning with their team members.
“Being able to help our people in such a way is a gift,” said Daniel Wenau, a participant in the programme. “So many have great ideas and can save the money to invest in a sustainable income for their family—a business they can all contribute to, which can generate income to pay school fees and bills, even when the mother or father is overseas working. Financial independence is so important for us all.”
Ultimately, the aim is to help workers and their families plan for and achieve their investments in business after taking part in seasonal work. Team Leaders expressed great enthusiasm for this first-of-its-kind support training, recognising its value in strengthening their leadership skills and improving worker support.
VCCI is committed to continuing this initiative, facilitating CANVAS workshops, and providing ongoing coaching to help Team Leaders guide their teams in financial planning and investment success.
This initiative is part of the Worker Ready Investment Ready programme, funded by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). VCCI is also working in collaboration with the Department of Labour, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Pacific Resilience Hub to create business opportunities for returning seasonal workers in the provinces, with a focus on the productive sector.
