COCA-COLA Beverages SA (Ccbsa) in collaboration with various South African government departments this week has launched an entrepreneurship competition, Bizniz in a Box, targeted at young people.
Bizniz in a Box is dedicated to creating opportunities for young people and integrating them in the economy.
Its ultimate aim is to contribute towards revitalising township economies and supporting the country’s development agenda.
It is created to transform aspirant entrepreneurs into fully-fledged business owners who can build businesses, create jobs, and provide a livelihood for themselves and others.
For the last six years, Ccbsa’s Bizniz in a Box has contributed to reducing youth unemployment by partnering with national and provincial governments, local municipalities and development finance institutions.
These partnerships have enabled entrepreneurs to develop businesses, improve their skills, access capital, improve supply chain development and inspire hope. To date, the initiative has trained more than 700 entrepreneurs.
This collaboration with the Free State Department of Economic, Small Business, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Destea) and the Gauteng Department of Economic Development (Gded) comes in the wake of the release of unemployment numbers for the first quarter of this year which showed that unemployment was 34.5 percent with the youth unemployment rate sitting at 63.9 percent.
The competition, is hosted on Lesedi FM, where listeners, who meet the above criteria, do a 90-second business elevator pitch live on the ‘Thakgoha Show’.
The best presentation chosen by the panel stands a chance to win one of 10 mobile kitchens valued at R82 000 each. The competition will run until Thursday, June 30.
To be considered for the Bizniz in a Box programme, candidates must be South African between the ages of 18 and 35 and have at least one year of entrepreneurial experience. Ideally, each applicant’s business should address the needs of the local community like convenience stores, fast foods stores, car washes and shisa nyamas.
Ccbsa managing director Velaphi Ratshefola said while the country was slowly emerging and recovering from the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of employed people across both formal and informal sectors remained around 1.8 million below the level reached before the onset of Covid-19 in March 2020.
“This is an untenable situation and as Ccbsa, we believe in using our industry leadership to be part of the solution to achieve positive change in the country and build a legacy that we can be proud of.
“Hence our strong emphasis on economic inclusion, particularly of young people through our Bizniz in a Box (BiB) initiative. There is no single entity that can manage this challenge on its own and we are proud to collaborate with the provincial governments to co-create sustainable solutions that will empower young people,” Ratshefola said.
He said the decision to partner with the Free State and Gauteng governments since 2016, was a natural progression towards working jointly to alleviate youth unemployment.
“Through our collaboration to empower small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) by setting them up in businesses, we can go further and also provide incubation and support through training and resources to ensure they grow their businesses, to create livelihoods for themselves and other young people. This can change the quality of their lives.”
MEC for Destea Makalo Mohale said the department had entered into this partnership with Ccbsa because it believed this was a giant step towards youth development, growth, and investment in the province.
“Previously, the department supported Free State SMMEs financially and non-financially through its different programmes designed to resuscitate and revitalise the provincial economy. The department is committed to continuing its support and partnering with the private sector to support SMMEs for sustainability, job retention and job creation”, Mohale said.
Gauteng MEC for Economic Development Parks Tau said: “The department is excited about this initiative and encourages young people in Gauteng to take advantage of it and other programmes aimed at youth empowerment offered by the province, such as Tshepo 1 Million”.
He stressed that this was but one among many programmes that would be rolled out throughout the Youth Month aimed at connecting young people to opportunities provided by government and the private sector.
Last year, the initiative supported 118 entrepreneurs across Gauteng and Free State and the plan was to integrate 135 businesses in this year in Maluti-A-Phofung Municipality, Dihlabeng, Ngwathe, Setsoto municipalities, City of Joburg and City of Ekurhuleni.
BUSINESS REPORT