Today’s youth have many exciting entrepreneurial ideas and skills but often do not know how to implement these ideas to generate income for themselves.
A youth entrepreneurship summit was held at the Don Mateman Civic Centre on November 29 to provide aspirant entrepreneurs with the tools to turn the vision into reality.
The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Pikitup, Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA), National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), Jozi SMME Hub and the Department of Environmental Affairs hosted the summit and used it as a platform to engage with the youth to drive young people into the formal economy.
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Johannes Thakeli from Pikitup said, “The summit is an information sharing session on youth entrepreneurship development. We want young people out there to know that the government cares about them and is bringing all this information to them. It is up to them to grab this opportunity with both hands so that they could better their lives.”
He added, “Basically, this all about entrepreneurship development.”
They invited speakers from the different stakeholders to provide encouragement and information which would be beneficial to them if applied correctly and constructively.
He described youth entrepreneurship development as, “It’s about small business development because the government has said that young people should start small businesses in order for them to be able to empower themselves.”
“It is not very easy to just up and start a small business, there are many aspects to take into consideration before it can be done.
“This does not make it impossible; it takes hard work and determination as well as quality services or goods, depending on the nature of the business you would like to start.
“Your future lies in your hands, Rome was not built in a day. So start today and work at it, never give up, if you get knocked down, get back up and do it ten times better. It is up to you to be the change you want to see.”
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