Young business
leaders from seven countries in Southern Africa have agreed to establish a
new Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs to promote entrepreneurship
and trade across the region.
The decision to form
the alliance came this week at a workshop organised in Windhoek,
Namibia, by the Commonwealth Secretariat for representatives of national
youth entrepreneurship organisations from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia,
South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia.
The alliance, which
will formally launch later this year, will support young African entrepreneurs
as they seek to boost youth employment, contribute to trade, and support the
Sustainable Development Goals, recognising that young people play an important
role in wealth creation and poverty reduction.
Katherine Ellis,
Director of Youth at the Commonwealth Secretariat, stated that the Commonwealth
Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs-Southern Africa (CAYE-SA) will play a role
in building human capital, unleashing the economic potential of young people and
promoting sustainable growth and development.
“As well as driving
trade within and across borders, this new coalition will give the young
entrepreneurs a voice with policy-makers to enhance the youth entrepreneurship
environment, and a peer network for support and sharing of experiences and good
practice,” she said.
“The Southern Africa
region has so many passionate and talented young entrepreneurs, all hungry to
grow their businesses and contribute to their countries’ prosperity,” Ms Ellis
added.
Lynette Ntuli, founder
of IgniteSA, a youth entrepreneurship organisation from South Africa, who was
appointed Interim Chair of the Alliance, said: “It is an honour to be selected
by my peers to lead the interim board as we prepare to get on with the critical
work of co-ordinating and collaborating on entrepreneurial development
programmes and enterprises.
“It is my hope that
the work we have set out to achieve will gain traction and make the necessary
impact for the greater good of both our economies and the young entrepreneurs
who operate within them.”
The move to establish
the new association follows the establishment of Commonwealth Alliances of
Young Entrepreneurs in Asia, the Caribbean and East Africa, all with support
from the Commonwealth Secretariat. Leaders from these associations assisted
with the workshop in Nambia this week, sharing their experiences with the young
entrepreneurs from Southern Africa.
In many countries
across the Southern Africa region, young entrepreneurs have limited access to
capital, lack skills and experience and have limited exposure to business
networks.
Mfundo Mohammed, the
Interim Deputy Chair of the the Innovators Association of Swaziland, said:
“Young entrepreneurs face serious challenges when trying to pursue their ideas and
start up successful businesses. CAYE-SA is a great chance for us to network,
learn from each other, and collaborate, in an effort to achieve real progress
in youth entrepreneurship and innovation in Southern Africa.”
Participating organizations
in the Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs-Southern Africa (CAYE-SA)
include:
Rlabs - Botswana
National Youth
Entrepreneurs Forum - Lesotho
mHUB - Malawi
Youth to Youth
Empowerment - Malawi
Junior Chamber
International - Namibia
GEN - Namibia
Young Entrepreneur
South Africa - South Africa
IgniteSA - South
Africa
Innovators Association
of Swaziland - Swaziland
Junior Achievement -
Swaziland
Young Entrepreneurs
Association - Zambia
Junior Achievement -
Zambia
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