Resources on: Youth and Entrepreneurship
Documents and articles
African Entrepreneurship Act of 2006
A bill: To promote economic diversification, entrepreneurship, and private sector development in Africa, and to promote partnerships among small and medium enterprises in the United States and the African private sector in qualified sub-Saharan African countries.
Being “Real” about Youth Entrepreneurship in Eastern and Southern Africa: Implications for Adults, Institutions and Sector Structures
SEED Working Paper No. 72, by: Francis Chigunta, Jamie Schnurr, David James-Wilson and Veronica Torres, Programme on Boosting Employment through Small EnterprisE Development Job Creation and Enterprise Department International Labour Office, Geneva.
Building an Entrepreneurial Culture: Youth Entrepreneurship Conference
Held at the Sandton Convention Centre, Gauteng, 28 & 29 June 2004.
We are seeing a wave of entrepreneurship happening throughout the world with more and more people looking for self-empowerment and business ownership. The role of big business as a provider of jobs is shrinking and people are looking to empower themselves in other ways.
Entrepreneur Situation in South Africa
It is our belief that South Africa's stability barometer is increasingly going to be youth employment. While there has been broad acknowledgement of this problem, very few programmes are functioning of a sufficiently large scale to have impact on this situation.
In South Africa 7.5 million out of 14 million young people aged between 16 and 35 are unemployed. Of these, half have been unemployed for more than 2 years and over 20% have been unemployed for more than 5 years. In rural South Africa the youth unemployment rate is 73% and 53% in urban area's.
Stimulating Youth Entrepreneurship in Kenya
June, 2006, Research Paper. A preliminary survey among the Kenyan youth shows that a small but growing number of college graduates are choosing to venture into small-scale businesses on graduation. The researchers interviewed some youth entrepreneurs and found that their experiences in college may have positively influenced their attitudes towards entrepreneurship. This research aims at exploring the link between the experience in colleges and the intentions towards entrepreneurship among college graduates.
Stimulating Youth Entrepreneurship:Barriers and incentives to enterprise start-ups by young people
By Ulrich Schoof, Small Enterprise Development Programme, Job Creation and Enterprise, Development Department, International Labour Office, Geneva. The world’s population is growing at a time when traditional, stable labour markets are shrinking. More than 1 billion people today are between 15 and 24 years of age and nearly 40 per cent of the world’s population is below the age of 20. The ILO estimates that 47 per cent of all unemployed persons globally are young women and men and 660 million young people will either be working or looking for work in 2015.
The Impact of Information and Communications Technology Training on Youth Entrepreneurship and Job Creation
A report prepared by the Youth Development Trust for the IDRC, April 2003, The Youth Development Trust (YDT) is a civil society organisation facilitating, amongst others, skills development and the creation of employment and self-employment amongst young people.
There has been a focus and drive by government and other stakeholders on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the creation of Small Medium and Macro Enterprises (SMMEs) to address the critical levels of unemployment in South Africa. YDT considered it essential to interrogate the assumption that the ICT sector is the solution to this ever-increasing problem. The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) was approached with a proposal to consider funding an exploratory study into ICT training and its impact on job creation and self-employment amongst South African youth.
Young People and The Millennium Development Goals
The paper outlines how young people can be included and empowered as part of the strategies that Member States and the United Nations system are creating for the achievement of the MDGs. It can be used as a lobby tool and guide for programmatic action, but ultimately, it is a call to all Member States, UN specialized agencies, and civil society to create mechanisms for youth to participate in the implementation of the MDGs and take advantage of the work and activities youth are already leading.
Youth Caucus on the CFA Consultation Document
Commission For Africa, 10—11, January 2005.
We the youth from Southern Africa gathered in Pretoria, South Africa from the 9th to the 11th of January 2005. On the occasion of CFA youth consultative meeting, organised by Southern African Regional Poverty Network (SARPN) in partnership with the SADC Youth Movement. We are highly excited about the CFA initiatives, intentions and objectives it aims to achieve. We are grateful towards the UK government in particular the Prime Minister Tony Blair for the CFA initiative; that seeks to mobilise the G8 and the EU to intensify aid for Africa’s development.
Links
African Information Society Youth Network (AISYN)
The AISYN is a regional youth information and communication electronic network. Its objective is to facilitate and coordinate the implementation of youth-targeted ICT-programmes in the context of promoting sustainable youth livelihood, education and enterpreneurship opportunities in Africa.
The network endeavors to enter into collaborative partnerships with local, regional and international development. partners in the areas of: programme development and implementation; resource mobilization and allocation; policy formulation and advocacy. The UNECA has been proposed as the ideal host of the AISYN, under the AISI.
Are African youths enterprising?
Are you a young African entrepreneur trying to make it? What made you succeed or fail? What help do you need to succeed? How tricky is it for young people to access finance to start a business in your country? What's the best way to engage young people? Are the youth doing enough to create job opportunities for themselves?
Direct Expatriate Nationals Investment (DeniAfrica)
To stimulate the private sector and the African economies, DENI requires that African nationals overseas buy up the Paris Club debt at a price acceptable to both sides. The lower the price the larger the amount of debt that can be retired. The goal is to liquidate a credible amount of the Paris Club debt and return the continent to a sustainable basis.
Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) Youth Awards
The Global Knowledge Partnership is the leading international multi-stakeholder network of government, business and civil society organisations committted to harnessing the potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) for sustainable and equitable development.
Leadership, Effectiveness, Accountability and Professionalism (Leap Africa)
LEAP provides leadership training programmes and executive coaching services for entrepreneurs who manage small and medium-sized enterprises and for youth. LEAP also invests in continuous research on leadership development in Africa. LEAP’s approach to cultivating leadership skills is unique..
Strategies for creating employment for urban youth, with specific reference to Africa (Draft)
Paper for Expert Group Meeting on “Strategies for Creating Urban Youth Employment: Solutions for Urban Youth in Africa” organized by the Division for Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations in collaboration with UN-HABITAT and the Youth Employment Network, 21-25 June 2004, Nairobi, Kenya
The African Leadership and Progress Network, Inc.
The African Leadership and Progress Network, Inc. [ALPN] is a nonprofit organization located in Washington, DC, and Abuja, Nigeria. ALPN is a network of African and non-African professionals who are strongly dedicated to utilizing innovative and entrepreneurial approaches for fostering rapid progress in Africa. Our mission is to help bring about faster private sector-driven economic growth and poverty alleviation in African countries through various initiatives that are rooted in knowledge and information.
The South African Institute for Entrepreneurship
Over the past 14 years, the SA Institute for Entrepreneurship's team has developed innovative entrepreneurship and business training materials which are now used in more than 75 countries and in 17 different languages. SAIE was established in 1996 out of the Triple Trust Organisation which now operates as a facilitator NGO to make markets work for the poor.
Timbuktu Chronicles
Emeka Okafor is an entrepreneur who lives in New York City. His interests include sustainable technologies in the developing world and paradigm breaking technologies in general. His blog, Timbuktu Chronicles seeks to spur dialogue in areas of entrepreneurship, technology and the scientific method as it impacts Africa.
Youth Employment Network Youth COnsultative Group
This site will provide the YCG member organisations with an on-line space in which to share youth specific developments on the YEN as they unfold and before they become public knowledge. This site will give users the opportunity to add content themselves through a simple proceedure. Furthermore the site offers facilities for collaborative drafting of documents and ability to discuss these drafts or other matters through discussion forums.
Youth in African Cities
Youth dominate the demographic landscape of many African cities. They cannot be put aside with phrases like “youth are the future”, but must be taken as partners in social change and development that are taking place in the present.
