The inclusion of youth-owned business into enterprise development programmes

Abstract: South Africa has a severe problem concerning limited participation of the youth in the mainstream economy. This technical research project was undertaken to investigate the extent to which youth-owned businesses in Mabopane Township are supported by companies that are operating in the neighbouring Rosslyn Industrial Park. The objective was to determine the capacity-building options for the youth-owned businesses in Mabopane to be included in the Rosslyn Industrial Park’s local economy. This is the first study that covers the local area of Mabopane and Rosslyn Industrial Park, which is one of the biggest industrial hubs in the City of Tshwane, Gauteng province. Small businesses are a crucial component of any Local Economic Development (LED) initiative because they are locally-bound and dependent on local sources of raw materials, skills, niche markets, sub-contracted to large firms and have the ability to create jobs. Even though most small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs) are known for job creation, South Africa’s unemployment rate has reached 26.7 percent in the first quarter of 2018. More than 5.9 million citizens are currently unemployed; this crisis is prevalent among the youth of South Africa. The LED pillars and the emerging trends and challenges of youth empowerment initiatives are expounded in the literature. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative research methods was used in this study. The survey included 46 youth-owned businesses from Mabopane, while 12 companies located at Rosslyn Industrial Park were interviewed. The quantitative results revealed that the significant challenges experienced by youth-owned businesses relate to access to start-up capital and markets, a dearth of entrepreneurial skills, and a lack of support from companies that are operating in the Rosslyn Industrial Park in terms of procuring services from them. The qualitative results revealed that participating companies in the industrial park have empowerment strategies in the form of enterprise development and support for...M.Com. (Local Economic Development