|
This
newsletter aims to keep SSACI’s partners informed about
what the Initiative is doing, and why.
It seeks to
give sponsors and project implementers a better
understanding of one another’s perspectives.
It highlights
issues in the fields of education, training and skills
development that effect SSACI’s work.
“SSACI News”
is issued quarterly from the desk of the Programme
Manager:
Tel: (012)
362-2972
Fax: (012) 362-2971
e-mail: ssaci@sdc.net
|
Facing the Future with
Courage
Young people from
Alexandra participate in a self-discovery
exercise
(See article on YEN on page
2)
What is the State of
Entrepreneurship in South
Africa? |
|
Napoleon once
described Britain as “a nation of shopkeepers”. He meant
it scathingly, but today most countries desire such a
reputation since economists increasingly view
entrepreneurship as an indicator of economic health. How
is South Africa doing in this regard?
One measure of
the state of entrepreneurship is “enterprise density” –
i.e., the number of entrepreneurs per 100 inhabitants.
With about 1,6-million self-employed people out of a
total population of 43 million, South Africa’s overall
enterprise density is 3,7%.. This is on a par with most
developed countries but is somewhat lower than many
developing countries, especially in South East Asia.
A more sophisticated measure of entrepreneurship is
that used by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM),
which distinguishes between “start-ups” (businesses that
have paid |
wages or
salaries for less than three months) and “new firms”
(those that have paid wages or salaries for three months
to three years). In GEM’s 2001 survey, South Africa was
ranked 14th out of 29 countries in terms of total
entrepreneurial activity but only 25th in terms of new
firms, the lowest of any of the developing countries
surveyed. The GEM researchers found that fewer than a
third of start-up businesses in South Africa pay wages
or salaries for more than three months, which indicates
a very high incidence of business failure in South
Africa.
Each year, 700’000 new businesses are
registered in South Africa., over 70% of them in Gauteng
and Western Cape, and 71% of them in the trade and
business services sectors. South Africa’s formal economy
therefore seems increasingly to resemble that of a
developed country. 
|
SSACI is sponsored by: Alpha; Ciba
Speciality Chemicals; Credit Suisse; Givaudan-Roure; Novartis
Pharmaceuticals; Schindler Lifts; Sika Finanz; Swiss Agency
for Development & Cooperation; Swiss Re; UBS;
Xstrata.
Focus on a Project: The Youth Empowerment
Network |
“Facing the Future With Courage” is the name
given by the Youth Empowerment Network’s training
programme for youth-at-risk. It sums up both the aim and
the spirit of a project that is currently receiving
funding from SSACI. Established in Alexandra township in
1998, YEN has progressively developed an experiential
training programme aimed at helping young people to take
control of their own lives and futures.
The need for
such a programme is widely recognised. For example,
research conducted in 1996-7 by the Community Agency for
Social Enquiry indicated that, of approximately 11
million South Africans between the ages of 16 and
30:
-
5% could be
categorised as “extremely marginalised” in society
(e.g. presently in prison or involved in criminal
activities)
-
27% were
“marginalised” (e.g. presently unemployed, having
little education and little likelihood of acquiring a
job or any other legal source of income)
-
43% were
“at risk” of becoming marginalised (e.g. presently at
school but likely to leave school early and therefore
likely to remain unemployed)
-
only 25%
were “fine” (a condition defined as being presently
employed or in an education programme likely to be
completed, able to generate an income, able to relate
to society in a healthy manner and having a positive
self-image).
The
causes of this grim scenario are not merely economic.
One of the more insidious legacies of apartheid has been
a deep-rooted sense of personal powerlessness that
became second nature to many people who suffered decades
of political and social oppression. David Licknaitzky,
an experienced youth worker and founder of YEN, believes
that young people were, and still are, especially
susceptible to this negative, self-defeating mindset as
a result of repeated disheartening experiences in a poor
public education system, poverty, exposure to high
levels of violence (social, domestic, criminal and
political), lack of opportunities (particularly for
employment) and widespread disruption in family and
community life.
To address this situation, Liknaitzky
believes that a new “liberation struggle” needs to be
waged. Youths need to be empowered with a belief in
themselves, a sense of direction, resilience to deal
creatively with the stresses and strains of everday life
and the ability to be assertive without being
aggressive. This is what YEN’s nine-week, full-time
training programme, “Facing the Future With Courage”,
aims to do.
SSACI is
currently funding six YEN courses, to be run between
September 2001 and July 2002, for a total of 150 youths
from Alexandra, inner-city Johannesburg and Kathorus on
the East Rand.
|
The
activity-driven programme deals with such topics
as:
-
Teamwork
and co-operation
-
Dealing
with emotions
-
Relationships and diversity
-
HIV/AIDS
-
Taking
responsibility
-
Building
confidence
-
Finding a
job
-
Starting
your own business
Participants are encouraged to manage their own
learning process, and to develop their capacity for
independent thinking, creativity and extending their
limits. The emphasis is not so much on what is a problem
or a deficit in one’s psychological make-up, but on
finding and using one’s full potential. Mornings on the
course are mainly devoted to experiential activities
that develop critical interpersonal and intrapersonal
skills. Afternoons include a range of outings and
cultural activities designed to expose participants to
new ideas and experiences through which they may
discover previously-unrealised talents within
themselves, and develop new avenues for self-expression.
As with all SSACI-funded projects, “Facing the
Future With Courage” is being independently evaluated.
Psychometric tests conducted on participants before and
after the nine-week programme have established that it
has a significant, positive affects the trainees’
attitudes towards themselves and others and imparts a
sense of agency – that is, a belief in one’s ability to
be master of one’s own destiny. According to the interim
evaluation report: “There was a total improvement in the
group’s scores between the pre- and the post-test [on
the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory]… The post-test
score falls in the high scoring category and indicates a
well-developed emotional and social capacity. Therefore,
this shows that the programme was successful.
Participants improved overall in an array of
non-cognitive abilities, competencies and skills that
enhance their ability to succeed in coping with
environmental demands and pressures ”. The evaluator
concluded that “Overall, it can be seen that the
programme has had a positive effect on the lives of the
participants”.
The next phase of the evaluation will
involve tracking a sample of course participants to see
how well they bring their newly-developed skills to bear
on the task of realising their personal goals, such as
finding a job, starting a business, enrolling in and
completing further education courses, undertaiking
community projects and so on. Judging from progress to
date, they certainly seem to have taken to heart an old
Chinese proverb that forms part of the YEN
credo:
“Better to light a candle than to
curse the darkness”.
|
What Support is Available for
SMMEs? |
With
so much hope being placed in small, medium and
micro-enterprises (SMMEs) as an engine for economic
growth and job creation, national and provincial
governments have put considerable resources into support
structures and programmes for them. Programmes funded
and operated at national level include:
-
Manufacturing Advisory Centres
(MACs): Piloted
in Eastern Cape and KZN during 2000-2, these centres
support micro and very small businesses (employing
1-20 people) in the manufacturing sector with advice
in such aspects as: accessing finance, developing
quality assurance systems, improving productivity,
managing human resources and marketing. The plan is to
have at least one centre in every province by
2005.
-
Incentive Schemes: The
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) operates
numerous incentive schemes for SMMEs,
including:
-
-
Short-term export finance guarantees
-
- Export
Marketing and Investment Assistance
-
- Venture
Capital Scheme
-
-
Standard Credit Guarantee Scheme
-
-
Standard Leased Factory Building Scheme
-
- Low
Interest Rate Empowerment Scheme
Many of these
schemes focus on a particular sector of the economy
in order to foster growth where there is most
potential. Information about these and other DTI
schemes can be obtained from the DTI, Khula
Enterprise Finance Ltd or the Industrial Development
Corporation. (IDC).
-
Local Economic Development
Programmes: Funded by DTI but operated
through local and provincial governments, this
initiative aims at integrating urban and rural
development to promote economic growth. Finance and
business advice is provided to new enterprises,
especially in the agricultural, forestry, mining and
tourism sectors. Particular emphasis is placed on
developing business opportunities “upstream” and
“downstream” from existing, large-scale mining and
manufacturing operations, and on enterprises that
involve partnerships between the public and private
sectors.
-
Small and Medium Enterprise Development
Programme (SMEDP): Another DTI initiative,
this scheme targets small industries in the
manufacturing, tourism, IT, biotechnology and
|
business services sectors. Businesses that began
production or operation after 1 September 2000 are
eligible to apply for a financial package that
includes:
-
An
investment grant payable for the first two years on
certain, specified assets
-
An
additional grant in the third year of operation if
value-added remuneration to the workforce increases
by 30% or more
-
A foreign
incvestment grant of up to US$150‘000 per project
for approved machinery and
equipment
-
Emerging Contractor Development
Programme: Operated by the Department of
Public Works (DPW), this programme aims at developing
the managerial skills of small contractors in the
construction sector. It includes a targeted
procurement component, in terms of which DPW links
emerging contractors on its database to suitable
construction projects and helps them access credit and
loan finance.
-
IDC
Finance: The
Industrial Development Corporation offers emerging
SMMEs a variety of financial products, including:
-
- Equity
investments, where the IDC will take a minority
shareholding (20-30%) in ventures which have high
development impact or profit potential.
-
-
Wholesale finance to intermediaries for on-lending
to SMMEs that have secured contracts from government
departments
-
Information Networks: A number
of web-based information systems are now in operation,
including the DTI-funded Buusiness Referral and
Information netwrok (BRAIN), which provides useful
business information along with links to 35 Local
Business Centres.
In
addition to these national programmes, all nine
provinces operate business-support centres and offer
various financial incentives to small enterprises, often
focusing upon sectors that are deemed to be particularly
important to the provincial economy. Most government
departments at all levels have a declared policy of
encouraging emerging SMMEs through targeted procurement.
A good starting point for any SMME in search of
support is the website of the Ntsika Enterprise
Promotion Agency (www.ntsika.org.za), which has numerous
links to other SMME-related sites. |
A Summary of Current
SSACI-Funded Projects
|
Beneficiary |
Description
of Project |
Grant |
|
|
|
|
|
ABC Ulwazi
Community Radio Project |
Business and
technical skills training by a mixture of
contact-sessions and distance-education in tourism- and
hospitality-related enterprises for 120 young
entrepreneurs in 12 selected localities around the
country |
R
800´000
over 2
years,
2001-2
|
|
|
|
|
|
Amsai Primary
School |
Construction
of an IT centre for use by this community school and
adult basic education centre in Orange Farm informal
settlement, Gauteng. |
R
2‘400´000
over 3 years,
2001-3
|
|
|
|
|
|
Association
for the Physically Disabled |
FET-level
technical skills training (in welding or catering) and
post-training mentorship in setting up micro-enterprises
for 25 youths (able and disabled) in Soweto,
Gauteng |
R
438´000
over 15
months,
2001-2
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bahloki
Unemployment Association |
Technical
skills training (in the manufacture of wire-mesh fences
and floor-polish, and small-scale poultry farming) and
post-training mentorship in setting up micro-enterprises
for 100 youths from rural Mpumalanga. |
R
400´000
over one year,
mid
2001-2
|
|
|
|
|
|
Borakenelo
Trust |
Vocational
training in welding, carpentry or dress-making for 60
youths from the rural Delpoortshoop area of the Northern
Cape, and post-training mentorship in setting up
micro-enterprises |
R554‘000
over one year,
mid 2002-3
|
|
|
|
|
|
Business
Skills and Development Centre |
FET-level
training in office and business skills, and
post-training mentorship in finding jobs or setting up
micro-enterprises, for 70 youths from the greater Cape
Town area. |
R
700´000
over one year, late
2001-2
|
|
|
|
|
|
Conquest for
Life |
Training in
electrical repair, uphosletry repair or detergent
production for 100 youths in Westbury and
Coronationville, Gauteng, and post-training mentorship
in finding jobs or setting up
micro-enterprises |
R900‘000
over 2 years, 2002-3
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forest Town
Foundation School |
Refurbishment
and equipping of a skills training centre for senior
learners at Forest Town School for handicapped learners,
Johannesburg. |
R
350´000
over one year, mid
2001-2
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friends of
Mosvold Hospital Trust |
Tertiary-level training in medical sciences for
30 students from rural KwaZulu-Natal, who will
thereafter be employed at Mosvold Hospital, Ingwavuma,
or its satellite clinics. |
R
847‘000
over two years, 2002-3
|
|
|
|
|
|
Furntrain |
FET-level
technical skills training in carpentry and
cabinet-making, and post-training mentorship in finding
jobs or setting up micro-enterprises, for 150 youths
from North West Province. |
R
1‘215´000
over two years,
2001-2
|
|
|
|
|
|
Midrand
EcoCity Trust |
FET and
tertiary-level training for 10 youths from Tembisa/
Ivory Park as eco-tour guides and assistance in setting
up tourism agancy to coincide with WSSD.
|
R 450‘000
over one year, 2002
|
|
|
|
|
|
National
Peace Accord Trust |
FET and
tertiary-level training for 30 formerly-militarised
youths in 4 provinces as wilderness tour
guides. |
R
930‘000
over two years, 2001-2
|
|
|
|
|
|
Outward Bound
Trust |
Life skills,
entrepreneurial skills and literacy training for 60
"street youths“ from Durban and the East
Rand |
R 215´400
over one year,
mid 2001-2
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rural
Education Access Project |
Tertiary-level training and in-service
learnerships in the fields of mechanical and electrical
engineering for for 50 youths from the rural Western
Cape, and post-training support in finding
|
R
656‘000
over 3 years,
2002-4
|
|
|
|
|
|
Siyavuka
Lateral Improvement Foundation |
Technical
skills training in the production of ceramics for 30
youths from Soweto, and assistance in setting up
commercial production units. |
R
366´400
over 18 months,
2001-2
|
|
|
|
|
|
School
Leavers‘ Opportunity Training |
Training and
on-the-job learnerships in the hospitality industry for
60 youths from rural Western Cape and KZN, and
post-training assistance in finding
jobs. |
R554‘000
over 18 months,
2002-3
|
|
|
|
|
|
Skills
Training for Employment Centre |
Training in
general office administration skills for 60 youths from
the greater Cape Town metropole, and post-training
assistance in finding jobs. |
R
580‘000
over 18 months, 2002-3
|
|
|
|
|
|
Youth
Empowerment Network |
Life-skills
training for 150 youths from Alexandra, inner-city
Johannesburg and Kathorus, Gauteng |
R
462´000
over 12 months,
mid
2001-2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Value
of Current Grants: |
R
12´827´800 |
In the next edition of SSACI
NEWS…
- Focus
on a Project: abc-Ulwazi
- Lessons from SDC’s experience of promoting
vocational training projects around the world
- What
is SSACI doing about HIV/AIDS?
|
