ETHEKWINI Muncipality is committed to equipping the youth with essential skills though programmes such as the Youth Innovation Challenge.
The city recently launched the third annual instalment of the Youth Innovation Challenge which has in the past provided some solutions to address unemployment in the City. The programme will run until 20 July.
This year’s Challenge is themed Creating a Smart and Sustainable City, and tasks entrants to explore innovative ways of solving challenges in the urban and built environment.
At the official launch, Deputy Mayor, Fawzia Peer, said the aim of the programme is to encourage youngsters to be ambitious and to think out of the box, by exploring possibilities that will allow them to develop innovative solutions to some of the city’s greatest challenges.
“This programme instils the culture of entrepreneurship which translates to many job opportunities in order to speedily turnaround the city’s economic status. Innovation and entrepreneurship is a primary pillar in ensuring radical economic transformation,” she said.
Acting Programme Manager Aurelia Albert outlined key aspects of the programme and said entrants would get invaluable coaching as part of the package.
She said this year’s challenge aimed to provide support to entrants with innovative business ideas through its enterPRIZE Chhallenge. The newly added component Africa Design Challenge driven by Aurecon and Oracle, will equip participants with skills to develop integrated solutions in response to city challenges. Furthermore, Albert said, the challenge introduced a Crowd funding platform spearheaded by Thundafund and Nedbank, aimed at assisting the winner of enterPRIZE to raise funds for their business.
Registration for the enterPRIZE Challenge is open until 16 April and the Africa Design Challenge will run from 1 to 30 April.
For applications, visit: https://www.sedfafrica.co.za/enterPRIZE
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