Innovative idea for youth:
Innovative skills development programme for entrepreneurs
IN an out-of-the-box initiative that will help establish 45 new youth-owned enterprises in Nelson Mandela Bay, Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) yesterday launched its Bizniz in a Box youth empowerment programme in Port Elizabeth.
On the back of a successful roll-out in the Free State and North West, the beverages giant – which is headquartered in Port Elizabeth – staged the first in a series of launches and public engagement sessions in the city at the Raymond Mhlaba Sports Centre in Motherwell.
The Bizniz in a Box concept is described by CCBSA as an “opportunity”, as opposed to a hand-out.
It is a comprehensive programme which, after rigorous selection and training phases, will physically place young entrepreneurs into their own container shops.
The programme is being supported locally by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.
Outlining the programme to scores of youths at the centre, CCBSA district manager Leon Fillis said the roll-out of the programme in Motherwell and Uitenhage was the first phase of the company’s job creation and youth empowerment programme in the region, and could be seen as a new era for youth there.
“Youth unemployment is a huge problem and recent data has seen it increase from 12% to 13%. The total unemployment figure for South Africa is sitting at 48%, with the youth being among the worst affected groups,” Fillis said.
“Through this initiative, we want to create employers . . . So we are looking for passionate, self-driven youths.
“We will give the skills, we will teach you business and we will give you a container from which to run your business.”
CCBSA enterprise development project manager Akona Sishuba said the main challenges facing potential SMMEs included a lack of funding and business skills, and high failure rates.
She indicated fierce competition between spaza shops and foreign nationals, and between supermarkets and spaza shops, and regulatory environment uncertainty as other challenges.
“Bizniz in a Box is everything you need, in one. We are focusing on the youth, not only because of their high unemployment rate but because they can adapt and learn new skills quickly.
“We want you to be able to run businesses like the foreign traders, who have the skills to run their businesses successfully,” she said.
“We don’t want you to physically fight with them, we want you to be able to [compete with] them in business.”
She said the programme would first identify hundreds of potential participants who would undergo psychometric assessments for suitability.
A total of 120 candidates would then be shortlisted for a sales assessment, after which 80 candidates would be short-listed for a boot camp.
“The group will then be whittled down to 60 candidates who will undergo container immersion, meaning they will operate containers for two months.
“Following this, 45 candidates will be shortlisted as beneficiaries and ultimately become store owners.”
A large portion of each Bizniz in a Box would be financed by CCBSA partner the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa).
Successful participants would in essence have secured a loan of around R80 000 from Sefa, which would be repayable to the agency.
The Bay’s director of economic development, tourism and agriculture, Lulama Mxenge, said the municipality was supporting the initiative through the provision of infrastructure, like water and electricity, and in identifying the location for each container.
The municipality welcomed the youth empowerment programme, she said.