Youth & Entrepreneurship I’ve decided to write this particular piece to celebrate Youth Day 2013 with all my fellow South Africans. Customarily on 16 June we commemorate the memoriam of those who succumbed to the onslaught of the Apartheid violence that took place on June 16 in 1976. With this in mind, I also want to celebrate the youth that is with us, and that holds the future of this nation and the world in their hands. The time has come for us to have a candid look at the present situation and pray talk about the action we need to take for the coming future. Whether we like it or not, we are not going to live forever, therefore we have a responsibility to fix our land and leave it in good shape for the coming generation. They are the future leaders of the people of our land. These future leaders are also known as “Generation Y”; born between mid-1980’s to early 2000’s. My generation is known as “Generation X”; born between the mid-1960’s to early 1980’s. We are also the ones that are no longer classified as youth. If we are no longer youth, we are X youth and the current custodians and leaders of the prospects of our land. The present is now in our hands. Question; What are we doing with it? The reality of the present time is that the rise in youth unemployment in South Africa is a ticking time bomb. Yes it is a global issue, but let’s focus at home and deal with our obligations as a global leader. We are faced with a crisis that needs immediate action and goal oriented strategic interventionsl; with clear roles of accountability. And for this we are looking at our political big wigs, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, etc. It is clear that they are not accountable, so why should others be? So; enough of making pathetic excuses, passing the buck, corrupt and self-enriching fat cats with their hands in the cookie jar. Their greed is perpetuating the obvious curse of poverty that’s gnawing away at the dignity and self-worth of our community at large. In developing countries like ours, it is an all-round accepted fact that the economy’s health and wellbeing is dependent on Small/Medium Sized Enterprises or commonly referred to as SME’s. SME’s in South Africa are in desperate need of attention in this dynamic globalising world if we want to stay in the game of international trade and enterprise activities. After all; gone are the days we were referred to as dark Africa. In fact I think it is hardly pushy to call us the light of the world. So shine on! If we want the world to take us seriously, we have to become more sincere about entrepreneurship and especially attentive to the matter of youth entrepreneurship. We are a maturing democracy and in order for us to establish stability, we have to take the training wheels off. Give the youth more responsibility and build a solid foundation for youth entrepreneurship. Here’s how we can start Entrepreneurship Education & Empowerment: 1. Capacity Building It’s time to sit and have honest, constructive and actionable talks about our skills ability and business savvy in the South African commerce community. In other words, a Needs Analysis on steroids that will slap us into next week Wednesday. Also, could we look at a national vision and actionable strategy as to where we are taking youth entrepreneurs? Then have some names of who’s leading the respective projects and hold them professionally accountable for managing the desired outcomes. This is imperative if we want to see successful and effective economic results. 2. Access to Finance Everyone in business knows that you will not get any money from the banks, unless you have money. That makes me want to LOL! Why would I need money if I have money? Anyway, so we have other “vehicles” to support youth entrepreneurs like NYDA, Business Partners, and many others. The question however is; how accessible are these funds and is it effectual in promoting youth entrepreneurship? Money should be made accessible with the right measures in place. 3. Regulatory Framework With all of the above mentioned, I am by no means suggesting that we should just hand things out for nothing. We’ve all heard the story of teaching a man to fish as appose to just giving him one. Youth entrepreneurs should learn at an early stage in their career to observe laws, regulations and all other lawful requirements to have a successful, legitimate business. No business (no matter how small) should be seen operating without policies, directives and guidelines. 4. Business Assistance & Support A business and an entrepreneur need more than just financial assistance and support. It would be of great effect if national and local governments would play a more visible role in youth entrepreneur education and development. How about getting a healthy and ready to serve management consultancy like Cedelink Business Consultants on board to mentor and build-up the youth? 5. Accountability Through Constant Monitoring & Evaluation The desired vision, goals and outcomes for the country’s youth entrepreneurs should have measurable and notable outcomes. If we stop playing games with the future of this country’s economy, we can set in place some good quantitative and qualitative measurables with time-lines and hold individuals accountable for delivering these required specifics. To close this enticing and provocative piece off, I will share a observation my assistant Rudi White shared with me. He’s just graduated from university and he’s working with me in a mentorship program I have developed as a means of paying it forward. Here’s what he had to say: While listening to SAFM yesterday (Sunday 16 May) it struck me, perhaps more than before that the South African government seems to be gifted at the practice of being vague. Vague in its attempts at eradicating poverty, combating unemployment and delivering on empty promises made to improve service delivery. SAFM was broadcasting directly from an event held in Kwazulu Natal as part of its Youth Day celebrations. The interview was with Steven Ngobeni, the CEO of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), the South African Government’s answer to ensuring a brighter future for the youth. Ngobeni was asked what the NYDA was doing to address major issues such as the education, employment and overall welfare of the youth. Instead of a detailed account of the measures and programs set in place to deal with these matters Ngobeni was vague and evasive. We the listeners were met with pre-set blabber, all of which we’d heard countless times before but have never seen come to fruition. No real insight was offered into; firstly the current stance of these matters and secondly; what measures/plans of actions the NYDA has developed to turn things around. Furthermore, a degree of responsibility must be placed on the interviewer for accepting such aimless engagement. Why did he not ask for names and details of the projects and services said to be in place by Ngobeni to eradicate the 35% of unemployment among the youth? Why did he not ask for the names of the NGOs mentioned by Ngobeni in answer to how the NYDA is dealing with drug abuse? Rather he accepted the “we have various services and projects in place”. Clearly, mediocrity has become the norm. No one asks the questions that desperately need answering. We can no longer accept the lack of direction and indecision that our government has so comfortably become accustom to. With this said, we say; POWER TO THE YOUTH! POWER TO BUSINESS! POWER TO SA!
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:10:07 +0000
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