the most effective ways of tackling poverty in any society because it empowers people from poverty stricken backgrounds to take charge of their own livelihood and provide for themselves. South African is not slacking in this area. There are a numerous programmes throughout the country aimed at training people without a business background on how to start their own companies and also assisting existing small businesses to expand further.
“South Africa [was] ranked 46th in terms of its entrepreneurial environment in the Global Entrepreneurship Index for 2016”. – Fin24.
There is definitely room for improvement in the area of entrpreneurship especially with the poverty margin increase, but different sectors of the society are working together to curb the increase of this global issue.
Picture: San Jose State University
Below are some of the ways in which the public sector, the private sector, higher education institutions and civil society are working to eradicate poverty through entrepreneurship:
- Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) by the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA)
“The Entrepreneurship Development Programme is aimed at creating a conducive environment for young entrepreneurs to access relevant entrepreneurship skills, knowledge, values and attitudes for their businesses. The programme offers a package of entrepreneurship trainings that respond appropriately and adequately to the labour market and business needs of young people”. – NYDA
- Entrepreneurship Development Academy (EDA) by Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBBS)
“The Academy’s work extends across the entrepreneurial spectrum to include women, social, green, youth, and township entrepreneurs in informal and more formal, growing businesses. Through dynamic, tailor-made and practical business and entrepreneurship education, thought leadership and research, the Academy’s work encourages growth and sustainability in the more sophisticated sectors like retail, ICT, construction, engineering as well as the less formal sectors like spaza shops. The offering spans across the business lifecycle and includes those interested in pursuing a social entrepreneurial cause all in favour of growing sustainable businesses, creating further employment and social impact”. – GIBBS
“BUSINESS/PARTNERS specialises in investing capital from R500, 000 to R50 million, skill and knowledge in entrepreneurs, and its staff has in-depth knowledge of the small and medium enterprise sector, as well as valuable insight into the various challenges facing businesses. Since inception, the company has made investments totaling R15.6 billion in 70 300 SME transactions facilitating over 593, 000 jobs in the process”. – Youth Village
“The South African Institute for Entrepreneurship (SAIE) is driven by a vision of a dynamic culture of entrepreneurship in South Africa that promotes a positive mindset in youth and adults and assists in the eradication of poverty through the creation of effective entrepreneurs”. – SAIE
From the above we can see that like many countries in the developing world South Africa still has a long wat to go in eradicating poverty completely in the country but there are already policies and programmes underway that will gradually help alleviate poverty for good, hopefully meeting the target date of 2030 agreed upon by the international community.
Article by: Pascaline Molepo