Mogale supports youth-owned businesses
The Gauteng Provincial Department, with Mogale City and local chambers of business, is instituting a youth chamber to support youth entrepreneurs in the province to address unemployment and poverty.
Gauteng Provincial Government, in partnership with Mogale City Local Municipality and other government entities is addressing unemployment and poverty on the West Rand by supporting youth-owned businesses.
The partnership is headed by the Gauteng Youth Directorate, made up of the National Youth Development Agency and the Gauteng Youth Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GYCCI).
Addressing young people at the West Rand Youth Chamber of Commerce and Industries launch held at Mogale City Central Library auditorium recently, Gauteng Youth Director Simon Molefe, said GYCCI has been assigned to set up youth chambers across the province and address socio-economic imbalances among young people.
“We are proud that Gauteng Youth Directorate and its stakeholders saw the need to address economic imbalances on the West Rand. The launch of this chamber is in line with our local economic development strategy, and it speaks of focused economic empowerment for young people in our city,” says Mogale City enterprise development manager Vuyani Bekwa.
Bekwa adds that the chamber will go a long way towards assisting the municipality to create sustainable businesses for young people.
“The municipality has just signed a memorandum of agreement with Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) to establish two key business incubators in Mogale City in the next financial year. The incubators are in the chemical manufacturing and construction sectors. The municipality pleads with every young entrepreneur to utilise these opportunities.”
According to Bekwa, the earmarked projects will cost around R11 million and are expected to be rolled out over the next three years.
“This is a start of robust engagement between enterprise development and the youth. We are confident that the chamber will remain independent of government, but lobby for favourable policies, programmes and opportunities for young entrepreneurs.”
“Young people must be pleased that government is addressing issues affecting them. We also want to indicate that for the regional chambers to be relevant for young people, it must be task-orientated,” says The GYCCI secretary Luthando Jack.
