The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) wishes to commend the Department of Economic Development (EDD) for its commitment to support the growth of young entrepreneurs.
The financial commitment, made as part of the Youth Employment Accord, totalling R3 billion over the next five years through the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) will go a long way in facilitating the growth and development of young entrepreneurs in South Africa.
According to the NYDA Executive Chairperson, Yershen Pillay, "The recent financial commitment during the budget vote of the Economic Development Department (EDD) shows that as a government we are serious about job creation for young people. We are aware that youth development involves more than just loan finance and we therefore hope to work together with the IDC and SEFA to complement their loan finance support with business development support and mentorship services. It may even provide the NYDA with the necessary space to concentrate on other aspects of youth development as not every young person wants to be an entrepreneur.”
"We do not want to duplicate the work of the IDC and SEFA, instead the NYDA should even serve as a conveyor belt for the screening and recommendation of young entrepreneurs to access the loan finance offered by the IDC and SEFA," said Yershen Pillay. “In fact, the NYDA may be able to improve chances of success for any young entrepreneur who receives a loan from either the IDC or SEFA by offering business development support and mentorship services. Such an arrangement would certainly be a good example of an integrated and holistic response by government to the youth unemployment crisis.”
The commitments made by EDD also highlight the mantra of the newly appointed board of the NYDA that efforts at job creation do not lie solely with the NYDA but should rather be a collective effort by all state entities, the private sector and civil society.
Furthermore, the Youth Employment Accord is a viable and meaningful approach to addressing the challenge of youth unemployment. It remains a better response than a silver bullet policy response such as a youth wage subsidy. We may be able to achieve more if all social partners commit to work together and have a single, coordinated approach to youth employment creation with a deliberate focus on skills development.
"Moreover, we are pleased that numerous youth formations including those of opposition parties such as the DA have signed the Youth Employment Accord thus affirming their commitment to its implementation," added Pillay.
For media enquiries:
Nawhal Kara-Foster
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Tel: 011 651 7000
E-mail: Nawhal.kara-foster@nyda.gov.za
