South Africa’s economy has been in a bad state lately following the hit of a recession in the country, business partners are strategizing on methods through which they can engage the youths of South Africa.
This idea has been considered a better option towards the fight against the sudden rise in unemployment rate. The South African quarterly labor force has given a statistical survey showing that the youth unemployment rate has risen by 1.6 percentage points to 38.6 percent in the first quarter of 2017. This means that the recession has caused businesses to slow down and reduce employment opportunities.
Mr. Christo Botes the executive director at South African risk finance firm Business Partners, said he finds this as an appropriate time to equip South African youths with the necessary skills and knowledge to start and run their own businesses because he finds the unemployment issue very worrisome.
“Increased unemployment among the youth is extremely worrying, as the prospect of finding employment tends to deteriorate as the period spent unemployed extends,” Botes said.
“We therefore, want to encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to take the plunge at creating their own employment, but in order to do this, the necessary resources and required support need to be made readily available,” he said.
The business partners have decided to prepare a competition to hold in November for young aspiring entrepreneurs, providing them with a special opportunity to take a bold step into entrepreneurship.
This competition comes with free business training and a tie of prizes which comprises of a cash prize and vouchers for mentorship sessions from leading business experts for the eight regional winners and one overall winner.
Therefore Mr. Botes encourages all aspirants to embrace the opportunity stating that this will be different from the previous ones.
“In previous years, all entrants have found the workshops to be extremely motivating, and the competition has spurred hundreds of young entrepreneurs to put their ideas into action as often it is the lack of this business ‘know how’ that prevents young entrepreneurs from translating their business idea into an actual trading business. During these highly regarded sessions, participants are also able to meet other like-minded young people, exchange ideas and get to start useful business networks,” he said.
“The workshops provide an extensive overview of what starting a business really entails, which allows those who may be doubtful to gain clarity on whether or not this is the right path for them to take. The platform therefore essentially allows participants to take the plunge, without being exposed to the full extent of real-life risks and having access to a variety of recourses and expert support,” he said.
