A young person’s guide to NYDA funding

THE YOUTH organisation plays a leading role in developing youth in business.

With the youth unemployment rate reaching 27.2 percent in the second quarter of 2018, many young South Africans are venturing into the world of entrepreneurship with the assistance of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA).

The NYDA was established to address the challenges faced by the nation’s youth. Previously, the organisation provided loans to young entreprenuers but changed in recent years to provide micro-finance grants for survivalist youth entrepreneurs. They also provide co-operative grants.

The objective of the grant programme is to provide entrepreneurs an opportunity to access both the financial and non-financial business development support to establish their survivalist businesses.

How much grant can I receive from the NYDA? The grant finance starts from R1 000 to a maximum of R200 000 for any individual or youth co-operative, but for agriculture and technology-related projects, the maximum amount is R250 000.

Young people whose business ideas qualify for the Grant Programme, depending on their individual needs, will also receive some of the NYDA’s non-financial support services that include: • Mentorship

• Business Consultancy

Services

• Market Linkages • Business Management

Training Programme • Youth Co-operative Development Programme

What are the criteria for application?

In order to meet the criteria, applicants must be between the 18 and 35 years old. They must also have skills, experience or potential skills, appropriate for the enterprise that they conduct or intend to conduct.

Most importantly, applicants must be South African citizens who live in the country and operate a business within the borders of country.

Applicants must also be involved in the day-today operation and management of the business with at least one or more of the members being a fulltime employee of the business, especially the main applicant.