Focus on young entrepreneurs

THE Limpopo Youth Chamber of Commerce and Industries (LYCCI) was officially launched during the chamber’s provincial conference at Cosmo Leisure on Thursday and Friday.

The inaugural conference was attended by young entrepreneurs from all five districts in the province. LYCCI head of communications, Chris Setlhako said the chamber was delighted by the overwhelming pledge made by various stakeholders to support the small and medium sized enterprises owned by young people in the province.

He said they welcomed the efforts of economic development, environment and tourism MEC, Seaparo Sekoati, to establish a “youth fund for young entrepreneurs”, which sought to incubate and support the emerging enterprises.

“We believe this will go a long way in shaping the economic landscape in the province. Young people in business have made a clarion call, as part of the conference resolutions, to the banks, development finance institutions, mining houses, government depart-ments, local municipalities, state-owned entities and enterprises, to relax their stringent funding formulae and begin designing programmes that are less biased and that target young entrepreneurs in the province.

“We understand that these collaborative efforts will help us towards creating five million jobs in the next five years. We will prioritise the following sectors, energy, mining, agribusiness, tourism and manufacturing. It is worth mentioning that the conference has elected new leadership,” said Setlhako. The provincial executive committee includes Wesley Maringa as the president, Rito Baloyi, as the first deputy president, Surprise Shokwane, as the second deputy president, Hlamalani Gudluza as the provincial secretary, Khumo George as the deputy secretary, and Caroline Mbalati as the treasurer.

The executive committee also has five additional members: Chris Setlhako, Malose Ramashala, Thuli Mkhondo, Aubrey Makodi, and Mapetla Maelane.