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ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT MUST DRIVE JOB CREATION FOR SA YOUTH
By Yershen Pillay , CEO , CHIETA ( chemical industries SETA )
Empowering youth to become successful entrepreneurs delivers a multiplier effect , with sustainable SMMEs creating jobs for other unemployed youth .
This support in turn also contributes to SETAs with their levies , enabling further support of small businesses . CHIETA ’ s experience underpins the strong premise that entrepreneurship is undeniably one of the key means at our disposal to dramatically increase job creation among our nation ’ s youth . With our rampant unemployment numbers , particularly among young people , which Stats SA placed at 66.5 % earlier this year , and which was reported as the highest in the world by tradingeconomics . com in December 2021 , the need to address this reality is urgent .
We know that there is no silver bullet to address this crisis , but we also recognise that comprehensive skills development for young would-be entrepreneurs must be an essential part of the country ’ s efforts to create jobs for youth .
The OECD ( Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ), which represents 38 countries including South Africa , published an article late last year which highlighted the global disconnect between young people ’ s aspirations to be entrepreneurs and the reality .
The article stated , “ Young people show a high level of interest in entrepreneurship . Overall , about 45 % of young people report that they would prefer to work as an entrepreneur rather than an employee , and 41 % think it would be feasible . However , few young people are actively working on start-ups or managing businesses . Only about 8 % of people aged 18 to 30 years in OECD countries were doing so between 2016 and 2020 . The gap is quite a drop-off from the proportion who indicate a desire to be an entrepreneur , suggesting that there is substantial untapped entrepreneurial potential among youth .”
This is exactly the scenario that is driving CHIETA ’ s Vision 2025 , which aims to support 2 000 SMMEs and 200 start-ups by 2025 with wide-ranging skills development and financial investment . By the end of this year , CHIETA will be about a third of the way to achieving this goal . In 2021 we supported 125 entrepreneurs and by the end of this year we will be equipping a further 500 for successful small business growth .
This multi-pronged strategy is producing job creators rather than job seekers , and we are working with higher education institutions and other partners to ensure the entrepreneursin-the-making will be enabled through wide-ranging skills development , financial support , and access to market linkages .
CHIETA has an allocated budget of R20 million for small business support within the chemical industries sector in our 2022-2023 financial year . This will assist in delivering training in entrepreneurial skills , incubation programmes , learnerships , bursaries , adult education and training , and other initiatives that contribute overall to small business growth , all of which will be carefully monitored and evaluated throughout the duration of the programmes to ensure success and sustainability .
This is going some way towards offsetting the strong non-entrepreneurial culture in South Africa and instead instilling an entrepreneurial mindset within the ranks of our youth and , working with large-scale enterprises , throughout the supply chain .
Clearly though , CHIETA ’ s mandate is restricted to the chemical industries sector . It behoves organisations and industries throughout the country to recognise the impactful benefits of entrepreneurial and SMME development to the nation . These benefits include job creation , a boost in productivity and healthy competition as small businesses often enter markets with lower prices , new market development , an increase in national income , and the introduction of new and innovative products , services , and technologies .
As we move into Youth Month , we can choose to celebrate it with an unequivocal commitment to building a powerful cohort of young entrepreneurs and SMMES in South Africa , for the good of the economic and social development of South Africa . RACA
"“ The youth need to be enabled to become job generators from job seekers .”
- APJ Abdul Kalam
www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za RACA Journal I August 2022 7