Youth agency now fulfilling business’s needs
THE National Youth Development Agency’s new direction of youth empowerment is to be commended.
Lamenting about the struggles of growing a business, a friend directed me to the NYDA for help. I was not open to hear.
One has to forgive the cynicism of an entrepreneur who has heard about the infamous kissing festival where the then Umsobomvu Youth Fund spent millions without any measurable benefits for youth-owned businesses except for the ones owned by those in the top echelons of the ANC Youth League. The reports were wounds for the hustlers who were desperate for help.
When the media reported the salary of the NYDA chief executive, it was enough to make any struggling young entrepreneur’s blood boil.
Umsobomvu was well known for branding vouchers that included business cards, a website and a letterhead to the value of R4 000. But finding out the salaries of the top dogs of the organisation, a young black business owner could be forgiven for feeling cheated and that he or she was given peanuts.
If one wanted a loan from the institution, after hustling money for the required business plan, the Umsobomvu consultant would inform the young business owner at the last minute that he or she needed collateral for approval of the loan and the loan repayment would be at prime plus 2%.
I wanted to scream: “How developmental is that? And please do not be fooled by the Model C accent and think I have assets lying around or people willing to provide collateral at my disposal.” It was a maddening experience at the best of times.
The only reason I went through those NYDA doors was not for a repetition of the dream-crushing experiences, but for the free money my friend said was available at the NYDA. I could not help but think that was another opportunity to play the previously disadvantaged individual card without having to sweat an ounce since government is great at extending free money to poverty- stricken South Africans (as it does during elections) and everyone, including my middle class self, loves a freebie.
Armed with my black face, rolling my vowels and having a few scars from government organisations, I finally called to find out about this “free money”. Lo and behold, I was met with the utmost professionalism of a corporate entity.
The NYDA consultant professionally required a meeting in which I was informed that no free money was given to any business. I could not help but sigh: “Eish, I thought my government was spreading the free money love from Nkandla”.
In a nutshell, as explained by the consultant, the NYDA now provides a grant system for young black-owned businesses that have been operating for a least six months and are showing potential for growth. Business owners can apply for equipment costing from R50 to R100 000 needed for the business.
These become assets that most black entrepreneurs struggle for years to acquire. Excuse the race dynamic, but all the white small business owners I know had a laptop, a desktop and printer to begin their operations while all the black entrepreneurs I have come into contact with had zilch to their names except a dream to be a mogul.
To paint a picture, one of my white suppliers was sharing how he started a company with nothing. Before I could finish the words “me too” to relate, he went on to explain he only had R7 000 in savings when he started the business.
I had to pick up my jaw as we clearly had different meanings of the word nothing. I had zero in savings, equipment and experience, and one year of moving between internet cafes and eventually saving for a laptop, hence the appreciation for the NYDA’s help.
If one thinks the NYDA does not do its due diligence, as with the previous voucher system, one is in for a huge awakening. The consultant, as happened with my business, requires bank statements in which one is supposed to know one’s numbers (turn- over, cash flow, profitability) and one’s core business.
It will not work for the general dealer who grabs every tender opportunity that comes his way and the NYDA will simply reject an entrepreneur who does not work at his business full time. It even does a site visit to check if the offices and employees you claim on paper are true.
Also, the branch manager, Vusumzi Makinana, has no problem telling you if the quotes you hand in from suppliers (who will be paid directly by the NYDA rather than you, the business owner) have to be as competitive as possible and no unreasonably expensive quotes will be accepted from suppliers. They are prudent to a tee.
The organisation should have been given oversight for the Nkandla upgrades.
If there is the rare good story to tell of a government organisation, the NYDA would have my vote, not only because I received help after years of sweating it out in business but its new system and its due diligence does speak to the empowerment needs of young black business owners.