STATEMENT BY THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER

 

DR B.S.S.DLAMINI

 

AT THE JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT ANNUAL FUNDRAISING GALA DINNER

 

AT ROYAL SWAZI CONVENTION CENTRE

 

Friday 22 May 2015

Acting Minister for Commerce, Industry and Trade

Counsellor and Deputy Counsellor in the Embassy of the

Republic of China (Taiwan)

Chairman and Members of Junior Achievement Board of 

Directors

Guest Speaker Dr Taddy Blecher

Resident Representative of UNICEF

Executive Director of Junior Achievement Swaziland

Captains of Industry

Junior Achievement Programme Sponsors

Junior Achievement Staff

Students

Members of the Media

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

 

Coming so soon after the Kick Start function of last month the Junior Achievement Fundraising Dinner serves to ensure that we do not for one moment forget the importance of developing and supporting the entrepreneurial culture and experience in our youth.

Our three flagship private sector programmes – Junior Achievement, Enactus and Kick Start - all have different structures and target different groups, but they all provide practical experience and valuable support for our young people in the field of enterprise. And they focus on the development of our most valuable resource, human capital, as an extension of existing Government programmes, and especially our education system which now includes the full roll-out of free public primary education.

And when we talk of enterprise, I doubt that any of us here are not aware of the value of starting young. If you want to be a top class footballer and help Sihlangu to (further!) international glory, or become an Olympic 100 metres sprint champion, or a renowned brain surgeon, you absolutely have to start young. Entrepreneurship itself is not quite in the same category, of course. I know successful entrepreneurs who have started in late middle age (pause). In the highly successful Inhlanyelo Fund project, that is funded by the generous benefactor, Natie Kirsh, and responsible for creating 13,000 small enterprises of which 8,200 are still operating, the average borrower is a 55 year old woman - in all probability, driven by need to create a sustainable source of income.

So you do not have to be a tenderfoot in age to be a successful entrepreneur. But it, nevertheless, helps a great deal if you start young. You are strong, versatile, resilient, with dreams and optimism about the future. You are more capable of bouncing back from the mistakes and disappointments. Just the right time to get stuck into some serious enterprise!

 

That is what we need in our country at the present time. We know that big investment, whether from outside or inside the Kingdom, is hugely valuable in bringing capital, skills, jobs and market access in one go. It creates a core of industrial and agricultural activity.

But the bulk of the faster economic growth, that is necessary to create more jobs, reduce poverty and generate more resources for Government service delivery, will come from the development of our small, medium and micro-scale enterprises sector. That growth is heavily dependent on many more young people coming out of the education system with an awareness and experience from real time entrepreneurship activity.

It is for that reason that the three existing schemes that I mentioned are considered important, with Government providing resources to all of them, limited only by its own financial constraints.

 

Junior Achievement has an excellent track record in fostering hands-on entrepreneurship, and developing work readiness and financial literacy skills among our young people. And it continues to extend the breadth of its work, aiming this year to work in all 265 high schools which will amount to increasing its reach from 4,000 to 6,000 pupils.

That is a noble ambition and we must do all we can to help make it a reality. The programme needs additional resources to achieve its target. That is why we have the Junior Achievement Fundraising Dinner this evening and why I am here to support it, to thank you all for being part of the event and to also express appreciation, in advance, for the contributions that I hope you will make.

At the same time it is essential that we examine the impact of the good work being undertaken in Junior Achievement. That is not quite such a straightforward exercise as it might seem. We do want large numbers of alumni to move into sustainable entrepreneurial activity in their adult lives. But we should remember that the experience gained in the JA Programme will contribute to national economic prosperity from across the spectrum of subsequent work activity, whether making products, providing services or teaching others, and whether employed or self-employed.

 

But these programmes do have the primary objective of empowering individuals to start businesses. We need the empirical research and the longer that the JA Programme continues, the more data we have for this purpose. Already we are learning that, whatever the readiness of the beneficiaries of the JA Programme, they face real constraints. There are the issues of affordable finance, access to the market place and, in some activities, especially high technology, availability of appropriate work accommodation. And a crucially important contributor to success, in later self-sustaining entrepreneurial activity, is mentoring. It is mentoring on the job by experienced professionals, as well as the availability of peer interaction and networking in an organized manner, that can make a big difference.

Mentoring is also a key element of the numerous so-called incubator programmes operating in countries across the world. The common denominator in these schemes appears to be a structure of competitive selection of young entrepreneurs, empowerment through training, mentoring, financial support and, where necessary, the provision of access to work infrastructure. I am impressed that the Board of JA Swaziland has developed a strategic plan that focuses on the incubator concept and is offering to partner with Government and an available donor in launching such a programme. I am assured that the respective Ministries have commenced an active examination, together with Junior Achievement, of how such an incubation scheme can work for our own young entrepreneurs, at the same time as reviewing all existing youth enterprise empowerment initiatives, to ensure that they all perform to the requisite standards. I am informed, at the same time, that SEDCO is closely involved with the Greenhouse Technology Incubator Project that will commence in July of this year. Rolling out the incubator concept to other areas of the economy is therefore a logical extension of that project.

And let us not forget that a great deal of the success of the JA Programme and the success internationally of our schools in the Company Programme comes from competition. Competition is a key word, a key dimension in achieving excellence. We compete in the football stadium, and we compete in the domestic and global markets to sell our products and services. Let us extend the competitive spirit that produces excellence in JA, Enactus and Kick Start into competition in practical activities within different fields.

When talking of different fields, perhaps we could start with a literal application – the fields of agriculture and horticulture. Our young people have not hitherto been greatly interested in agriculture as a self-employed career. Yet agriculture in our fertile soil has been, and still is, the backbone of our economy. How do we create enthusiasm among the youth? I make a suggestion – create a competition in our fields, provide the incentives and the empowerment measures, and there will be motivation and, in due course, excellence and income.

Where do we start? Why not have a national competition that sees small areas of land made available to clusters of youth, empowered by the necessary inputs and permaculture skills and access to market, with a focus on, for example, high value crops like spices and baby vegetables? As with any national initiative, Government should adopt a facilitation role. It may be necessary to start with a small pilot scheme evenly distributed across the country.

But initial motivation needs incentivisation. With outputs judged by an expert group, the incentives should reward efficiency rather than supremacy, and should recognize the priorities of youth and the value of modern technology. The competition could, for example, award a large number of smartphones – attractive to the youth and technologically beneficial – to groups of young people who achieve a specific standard. With plenty of media attention along the way to stimulate competitiveness and the national interest. The winners walk away with a prize in one pocket, sales proceeds in the other, and a real chance of continuity in their hearts. From little acorns grow big oak trees. That is my humble contribution – some thoughts out of the box so to speak. 

 

Thank you for inviting me, together with my wife, Pastor Joy, to this evening’s function. We have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and I take the opportunity to thank Dr Blecher for sharing his wisdom and experience with everyone here. And, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government I express our deep gratitude to all sponsors, as well as the Board and staff of Junior Achievement and its technical support team for their generosity and hard work respectively.

 

Thank you.