A GOOD, SOBER STRATEGY

Do we trust and believe in the future? The obvious answer should be ‘yes’ because we have all these grand plans to try to help us get there as we envision ourselves among the best in the world, or thereabouts, by 2022.

The best possible route to get there continues to be a subject of great debate, with each sector of our society putting up great ideas. In every corner of the country, the youth are crying out for assistance and access to opportunities for survival.

Government alone can never meet this demand. In fact, a vibrant private sector is better positioned to do so. Swaziland Beverages is one company that has boldly stepped up to answer this call, with the Kick-Start entrepreneurship initiative for the youth. This programme was initially launched by its mother company, SABMiller, in 1995 and has provided training, mentoring and grants to over 22 300 entrepreneurs, with 3 200 businesses set up.

This is a country blessed with an abundance of young, innovative, minds that only need somebody to believe in their ability to make a difference for this country. Instead, they have been disappointed. They knock on many doors each day but find them shut because they are considered ‘high risk’, lack security for the loan amount and, worst of all, lack capacity and experience. They are often told they are venturing into areas whose viability no financial institution can trust.

This is a group of people who form the majority of the unemployed in this country. When you read that government is preparing to sue 188 youths who have failed to service their loans, you understand why financial institutions won’t fund them with clients’ money.

The Kick-Start programme, however, has come up with a different approach. It trusts a good idea and is willing to take a risk by funding it. It doesn’t end there. The programme trains the applicants and thereafter shepherds the beneficiaries until they can stand on their own two feet.
In addition, the young entrepreneurs are assisted in procuring business, even within the company. The results have been phenomenal. Of the 11 winners of the past few years, only one has failed. Even then, the business suffered hailstorm damage.

Aspect

The locals appear to be emulating the successes of their South African counterparts, where SABMiller has recorded an 80 per cent success rate.
The other encouraging aspect to it is seeing some of the ‘graduates’ of high school and tertiary institution entrepreneurship programmes, Junior Achievers and Enactus respectively, being provided with an opportunity to put their experience into practice through access to finance. The diversity of the projects funded by this programme is another plus for a country that is highly dependent on a few sectors for revenue.

The Youth Fund initiative has similar objectives but appears to lack the intense training and shepherding component. Not only that; the beneficiaries are left to find business on their own.  So how should government address this problem?
Making provision for business opportunities in supply and services, specifically for youth, would be a good start. If you are going to fund the youth to start businesses then surely you must believe in the business and the quality of the project enough to support it. That is the sober and logical approach adopted by the Kick-Start programme and it makes good business sense.

The next step, of course, would be to have government reduce its stake in private business to provide room for competition and growth in the private sector. Currently, statistics show that government is a big player in the business sector, with 40 per cent interests in business. This is, by far, one of the highest among countries of similar size. Take, for instance, the best economy in Africa – Mauritius. It only has a two per cent stake in business. Our government is also the highest single employer when compared to the size of the economy and the population, with over 35 000 employees, leaving it with an unsustainably high wage bill. Employment should be provided by a flourishing private sector.
SABMiller and Swaziland Beverages have shown us the way to go, so the next allocation to the increased Youth Fund should address the current shortcomings if we are to derive meaningful returns on this investment.

Suing the unsuccessful beneficiaries is a responsible thing to do, but it is very irresponsible to just throw money around for political reasons and leave these young people to swim against the tide with the hope they will succeed without the necessary support.
So if there is one product from Swaziland Beverages that ought to be consumed way above its acceptable limits, it has to be Kick-Start. It provides just the right sort of ‘kick’ that the country needs.

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