eThekwini empowers youth to become entrepreneurs

Youth empowerment remains as a vital part of the eThekwini Municipality’s initiatives as the City believes that increasing the participation of youth in the economy enhances competitiveness and growth.

In keeping with their goal, eThekwini Municipality in partnership with Sasol will roll out the Am I Preneur Programme for the South Region as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week campaign which runs from 13 – 17 November in Lamontville, South of Durban.

The week-long Am I Preneur Programme, which targets disadvantaged and unemployed youth from the municipality’s South Region, aims to equip them with business skills that will enable them to address the socio-economic challenges they face.

Entrepreneurship offers pathways for young people to emerge from unemployment and poverty by coming up with innovative business concepts relevant to market demands.

EThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede said youth across the country faced unemployment, poverty and lack of business opportunities.

“As a City we realised that in order for us to break these barriers there was a need for collaboration between the public and private sector, hence the partnership with Sasol which is a great advantage for us,” said Mayor Gumede.

She added that the partnership will create new and unusual economic opportunities for the youth and explore other possible ways of doing business. “This will in turn improve the capacity and produce skilled youth entrepreneurs who will contribute towards reducing unemployment,” she said.

The Am I Preneur Programme will be facilitated by prominent business experts from Sasol over a five day period. During the week, participants will pitch ideas that could see their dream of becoming the next successful entrepreneur a reality.

Interested youth, who aspire to become entrepreneurs, are invited to apply and be part of this programme. Applicants are advised meet the following criteria:

•Must be out of school and have at least completed grade 11 as a minimum,

•Must have interest in entrepreneurship,

•Must be willing and able to commit for a week to complete the training,

•Must be able to get to the training venue. Training starts at 7am and ends at 5pm for the duration of the week and,

•Must have an understanding of English.

For candidates to be considered, they are requested to email a two-page motivation letter which must include their name, date of birth, mobile number and the area they live in. The motivation letter should also include the specific business idea the candidate would like to start.

The motivation with all the above mentioned criteria should be emailed to csi@sasol.com using the keyword “Lamontville”. Alternatively, the document can be hand delivered to Balungile Ntshangase at the Business Support, Tourism and Markets Unit, 7th Floor Embassy Building, 199 Anton Lembede Street.

Applications will be accepted until 10 November 2017 at 12h00. No late applications after the closing date will be considered. Successful candidates will be contacted via email.

For more information and enquiries contact Balungile Ntshangase on 031 311 4458/ 031 261 5585 or e-mail: Balungile.Ntshangase@durban.gov.za