Help 1000 young entrepreneurs in Eswatini

All Out Africa launched the second edition of the Youth Entrepreneurship training program. The program hosted 40 aspiring youth entrepreneurs in a six-week training followed by a mentorship program.

The first training Youth Entrepreneurship group was recruited in late July 2022 and finished the training on 31 August 2022. The second group was recruited in mid-September and will complete their course in late October. The training attempted to answer the following research questions: 1) Is starting and running entrepreneurial activities a viable alternative for income generation for Swazi youth? And 2) What support institutions are available, and how far do these institutions meet the entrepreneurs’ needs?

Methodology

The data was gathered through focus groups, semi-structured interviews, observation, and a survey. We have listened to youth from multiple viewpoints at different stages of business development in Swaziland. The aim of this has been to create a holistic picture of what challenges are facing young Swazis starting up their own self-generating economic activity.

More business skills

The youth were asked if the program was effective in developing skills, innovation approaches, and decision strategies needed to run a business. The response to this question varied a bit, where some said they had the skills needed but no start-up capital, while others requested support to start their own businesses. 

Choosing youth for the Enterprise program

The local community leaders of Bucopho recruit youth and refer them to All Out Africa. A leader stated, “I am particularly excited by the desire from All Out Africa Foundation to improve the socioeconomic status of nearby communities. This indeed is a true spirit of corporate citizenship that will challenge other organizations to emulate. The call to create jobs is directed to everyone, even the youth themselves, hence we applaud AOAF for creating this platform where young people test their entrepreneurial acumen.”

Lack of employment opportunities has been an issue that has come up in many of the youth, especially those in more rural parts of the country. Many of them, in both rural and urban areas, are saying that there are no employment opportunities in the areas where they live. Respondents in rural areas stated that to find employment they have to move to urban centres.

How did the respondents decide what type of business to start?

When asking the participants, the majority did not know how to answer the question. To many, the type of business developed logically from the course training, where the Enterprise Development Coordinator has opened their mind and enforced the principles of being an entrepreneur. For many in the most rural areas, the choice of trade had been due to what services or goods were lacking in the community, or what was possible to grow in the area, for example, vegetables, goats, poultry, pigs, and feedlot. Another important reason was what they could afford to start up. Some of them plan to start up one business demanding low start-up capital and build up to a more capital-demanding business when they had saved some money. For instance, they can start by making and selling buns, saving most of the money to buy a sewing machine. Then start a sewing business, which again will lead to higher income and lay the groundwork for a floor polish business.

The government of Eswatini was applauded for its continued support of entrepreneurship. The program will provide mentorships to the graduating class of entrepreneurs after six weeks of training. A key lesson learnt is the importance of mentorship to provide much-needed guidance to the budding entrepreneur. To respond to this need, All Out Africa Foundation is strengthening this component of the program to ensure that young entrepreneurs get the full benefits of our investment. We are in the process of recruiting mentors across the globe and hence this program should be fully functional by the fourth quarter of the year.

We encourage the youth to explore the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the country once they complete the program to further find support to pursue their dream to have a business. The ecosystem includes JA Swaziland, SEDCO, the youth Enterprise Fund, Kick start, and Fincorp among others. 

Process of registering a business

Some of the youth wished to formally register their businesses and All Out Africa will facilitate the process through the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Trade. We encourage this as a registered business can secure funding from commercial banks and other financial institutions.

The exact cost of registration varies a bit from one type of business to another. However, in common for all businesses is that they need to register their business and get a trading license to become an official and legal business entity. The total cost of this is about E645.00. The second obstacle is the process of registration. It is a demanding process where many forms have to be filled in, and the Enterprise Development Officer will facilitate the process.

This research recommends All Out Africa focus on youth running their own businesses and offer support. The reason behind this is that it is the only option many young Swazis have to earn an income. In addition, it helps young people to keep occupied, which the respondents argued led to reduced crime-rate and drug abuse in the communities. Projects have to be designed carefully in order to avoid “free riders” who want “free” money and see running a business as the fastest way to get rich.

In summary

The mandate of the All Out Africa Youth Enterprise Program

To assist Eswatini youth to develop themselves economically. The All Out Africa Youth Enterprise Program, therefore, must seek to:

• Empower the youth to engage in economic and commercial enterprises.
• Empowering the youth to be self-sustainable.
• Providing capacity development and mentorship to youth-owned enterprises
• Facilitating business proposals for seed capital to the youth
• Improving linkages for youth enterprises with relevant stakeholders

 Above all and bottom line, we have to propose other stakeholders to assist the program on the below-stated ground;

• To promote sound entrepreneurial practices through the provision of sustainable capacity building and public education programs. Support the development and dissemination of reliable, timely, and appropriate information to the youth to indicate potential business opportunities and linkages;
• To assist youth entrepreneurs experiencing losses or insolvency to restructure and turn around in order to limit the fear of failure and promote business sustainability;
• Foster business-to-business linkages and focus on supporting high-potential value chains in local market distribution and export promotion;
• To create an enabling environment that will help to foster innovation among youth entrepreneurs through the greater supply of and demand for ICT products and services thereby increasing productivity in the sector;
• Educate business youth entrepreneurs on how to choose and execute strategies for a sustainable turnaround. Support relevant structures that would provide advice to viable small businesses that are experiencing problems or insolvency liaising with the judicial and financial services to resuscitate and restructure the businesses;
• Provide and support a practical component where students are encouraged to form businesses and gain useful skills from doing what they have been taught. Partner with the various development organizations, key private sector entities, and academia, to promote entrepreneurship throughout the country, not just as a means of survival, but by highlighting its possibilities for generating wealth and transforming the economy.