As the world celebrates Global Entrepreneurship Week from 17-23 November 2014, the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) calls for more young people to consider entrepreneurship as a viable career opportunity.
The NYDA offers a number of support opportunities to young entrepreneurs like the NYDA Business Grant Programme, providing grant funding to youth-owned businesses of up to R100 000. Additional to this, the NYDA implements a voucher programme allowing young entrepreneurs access to a range of business development support services. Through a partnership between the NYDA, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa), a R2.7 Billion loan facility has been established for the development of youth entrepreneurship in South Africa.
According to NYDA Executive Chairperson, Yershen Pillay, “As the NYDA we are extremely proud to have initiated a R25 million Business Grant Programme for young entrepreneurs. This programme has contributed immensely to cultivating a small business culture amongst the youth of South Africa. We have a great deal to celebrate but much more needs to be done to address the shortage of young entrepreneurs and the lack of a culture of entrepreneurship amongst the youth.”
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report for 2013 indicated that only 13% of young South Africans had intentions of starting a business. This represented a decline from 15% in 2012 and a shocking statistic when compared to the region’s average of approximately 56%.
The NYDA is proud to support such initiatives aimed at developing local young talent and fostering a culture of youth entrepreneurship. If you would like fo find out more about how you can get funding from NYDA for your project, visit www.nyda.gov.za for NYDA beneficiary stories
IMAGE: Bahlakoana Moleko, twenty six year old farmer in De Deur South of Johannesburg who is one of the NYDA Entrepreneurship Grant Programme beneficiaries, with NYDA Executive Chairperson Yershen Pillay.