STATEMENT BY THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER

 

DR B.SIBUSISO DLAMINI

 

AT THE 2014 JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT EXPO

 

AT THE UNISWA SPORTS EMPORIUM

 

FRIDAY 17 OCTOBER 2014

 

Honourable Ministers

Excellencies of the Diplomatic Corps

Chairperson of the Junior Achievement Board of Directors

Executive Director and staff of Junior Achievement

Junior Achievement Programme Sponsors

Competition Judges

Students

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

 

May I say how delighted I am to once again attend the annual Junior Achievement Expo. Junior Achievement Swaziland – let me refer to it by the, now well-known, acronym “JA” - continues to promote and enhance entrepreneurship and financial literacy education among the young people of Swaziland.

 

Growing and strengthening the present and future backbone of our country’s economy, through the empowerment and career development of our young people, remain a high priority for His Majesty’s Government. For this reason, JA, Enactus and Kickstart are viewed as important strategic partners in our national economic development agenda. They introduce our children to entrepreneurship, and they give our youth the tools, skills and networks to enhance their ability to create sustainable livelihoods, now and in the future. A high level of youth employment is a serious impediment, both from a sociological and economic perspective, as well as being thoroughly dispiriting for the individual. Equipping that person for self-employment, or simply creating strong business skills for use in other areas of the economy, is one of the greatest gifts that we can make to our young people.

 

My commitments as Prime Minister tend to limit the time I can spend at an event so I have been unable to see the presentations today. But I am reliably briefed on the extent of the innovation and ingenuity that characterise the output of JA Programme participants. This is one very good programme, with Company groups also excelling in international competition. We even see commercially viable enterprises developed by students while still in their teens. I am constantly learning of JA alumni who have gone into viable enterprises such as piggeries and the production of mosquito-repellant petroleum jelly. And one former JA participant is now a Board Member of the Youth Enterprise Fund. All are to be congratulated most warmly, together with today’s competitors and, of course, the management and mentors of JA Swaziland itself.

 

I am aware that JA Swaziland’s Board of Directors has reviewed the organization’s strategic plan, which has developed a vision to position JA as a centre of excellence and to look at ways of establishing incubators that will provide intensified support to further development and establishing a trajectory for youth entrepreneurship to grow business ideas to the next level. This is a commendable step forward.

 

A similar commendation should go to the partnership of JA with our Micro-Finance Unit for launching the out-of-school youth entrepreneurship development programme. This is designed to empower self-employed and unemployed youth with practical entrepreneurship and business management skills that will enable them to start, grow and sustain enterprises. I urge our youth to think creatively about Swaziland’s areas of comparative advantage, and venture into value addition projects, especially in agriculture, searching out access to the global supply chain.

 

While praising the effectiveness of the JA company programme one should not forget the importance of the JA Shadow programme that provides beneficiaries with opportunities to learn from real business life, as well as to network with professionals within a spectrum of fields and industries. I thank the United States Embassy in Swaziland for supporting implementation of this unique programme and I emphasise our appreciation to the organizations that have hosted the students, and urge all to continue supporting this initiative.

 

I commend and thank all sponsors for their support to the youth development agenda and I make this appeal to the numerous companies in the private sector to continue partnering with JA in this way. Special appreciation also goes the Government of the Republic of China, Taiwan for its support to our entrepreneurship programmes. The innovative style and dramatic rate of economic growth of Taiwan is an example we should revere and replicate.

 

One of the advantages of attending an event such as this is having the opportunity to make statements that underpin a national strategy.  And sometimes it is necessary to repeat those in order to place them deep, but easily retrievable, within the national psyche.  One such statement is the importance of developing a strong entrepreneurial culture across the country.  Entrepreneurship does not come naturally to societies other than those in which families ingrain that culture in their offspring from an early age, whether through mealtime conversation across the table between adults, or through after-school work in the shop or other forms of small business.

 

Because that is where it starts.  Alan Sugar is a British entrepreneur, since knighted as Lord Sugar.  The first question of course is whether his family was in any way connected with Simunye, Mhlume or Big Bend.  But, anyway, he started as a 16 year old, buying and selling goods from the back of an old vehicle in car boot sales.  Lord Sugar built up a business empire from this tiny base, and currently has a television programme in which entrepreneurs and their projects are judged in much the same way as today's JA Expo.  One expression springs to mind from the example of Lord Sugar- from little acorns grow big oak trees.  So, to every young would-be entrepreneur I say - never be put off by the need, for whatever reason, to start small.  Having a limited amount of financial resources invariably dictates such a starting position.  And the younger you start, the better you will probably be at business.  You only have to look at a young person learning a language, operating a computer or taking on a new ballgame to understand that concept.  Of course, there are many examples that demonstrate that it is never too late in life to start a business, but the younger you are the more energy you have and the easier it is to learn and adapt.  And our young people are immensely important to us.  They are the future of our society and our economy. 

 

And part of developing an entrepreneurial culture is quite simply looking at everything you come across in daily life and thinking - could I make this and could I make it better?  Whether looking at a tomato on the plate, a woven basket or a piece of computer software, there is always the opportunity to make a new or better product.  History is littered with examples, from the invention of the paper clip or potato peeler or the recent Internet social network applications.  They all started with someone looking at a product or opportunity and saying - I can do that.  Or I can do that better. And there is demand out there for this product. As an economy we have so much need for innovation and in so many areas. I am sure the Royal Science and Technology Park will soon be a breeding ground for the kind of innovation that can take our economy to a higher level.

 

We also have a need for developing businesses - big and small - that focus on the products that sell, both in the global supply chain, like food products, or providing services to tourists such as a handcraft stall or refreshment stop on a well-used tourist route.  How many people are aware, for instance, that a very popular tourist route from South Africa to Kruger Park is through Mafutseni and Luve?  We would like those tourists to stop for a couple of nights en route - and perhaps we will be able to offer that in due course - but in the meantime let our small scale entrepreneurs look at that traffic as a business opportunity.

 

I always try to include a brief word of thanks to the sponsors of events such as this.  This is especially true of the JA Programme.  I cannot list all sponsors here but I can assure them that their generosity is noted, recorded and much appreciated.   Like the Taiwanese Government, the United States Government has provided much in the way of generous development support to our country, including the JA Shadow Programme.  

 

At the core of American aid to developing countries is the strategy "Aid through Trade".  That is the essence of legislation,  such as AGOA, the African Growth and Opportunity Act.  Swaziland's membership has recently ceased but I give the serious assurance that no stone is being left unturned to get that back, as illustrated by key requirements of AGOA eligibility having, in the past few days, been placed before Parliament.  If everyone in our country, and I mean everyone, supports these measures and, implicitly, the Kingdom's need for faster economic growth and the reduction of poverty, we can hopefully satisfy our principals ad re-enter the AGOA Programme. 

Mr Natie Kirsh is a most generous donor to the JA Programme

and in a sense personifies exactly what our youth should seek to emulate.  He came to Swaziland with a very small amount of money in his pocket in the early 1960s.  He identified business opportunities, raised money and he worked hard, developing a strong entrepreneurial flair and expanding his Swazi investments world-wide over the next five decades. Mr Kirsh is an excellent role model, starting with very little money but with the drive to succeed in business.   

 And I should add that the financial sector and various public sector financing schemes must ensure that good business plans are met with affordable finance or, where required, providing a link to enable sound business ideas to be translated into convincing business plans. 

 I take this opportunity to thank again all the sponsors that have contributed to the JA Programme. My thanks also go to the JA Board and Management, and to judges of the Competition. And, of course, my very warmest congratulations go to all the competitors.

Thank you.