STATEMENT BY THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER

 

DR B.S.S.DLAMINI

 

AT THE ENACTUS NATIONAL COMPETITION

 

AT ROYAL SWAZI SUN, EZULWINI

 

SATURDAY 27 JUNE 2015

 

Minister for Commerce, Industry and Trade

Chairman and Members of the Enactus Board inSwaziland

Enactus Sponsors

Your Excellency United States Ambassador

Judges and Captains of Industry

Business Advisory Board Members

Faculty Advisers

Enactus Competitors

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

 

Everything that is going on with our three flagship private sector schemes for entrepreneurship – Junior Achievement, Enactus and Kick Start – we in Government like to hear about. And I, personally, very much enjoy attending the respective annual competitions and marveling at the intensity of the commitment within the programmes, the dynamic characteristics of the many projects and how much the students, or novice entrepreneurs, are enjoying themselves. So, thank you for inviting me to this, the climax of the Enactus Competition of 2015.

Each of the three entrepreneurship schemes, that I have mentioned, has its place and clear lines of demarcation. That is good, in order to avoid the overlapping and duplication that can often occur in such projects, despite the very best of intentions on the part of donors and implementing agents.

Enactus has its key role among our tertiary level students. And it has a special double edge to the thrust of its sword – on the one hand there is the benefit gained by the recipients of assistance, out in the chosen communities, and, on the other hand, there is the personal entrepreneurial experience gained by the student.

That is a winning formula for any project, enhanced even further, within Enactus, by the sense of personal fulfilment derived by the students, arising from helping others less fortunate than themselves. Any psychologist worth his or her salt, so to speak, will confirm that the satisfaction gained from helping others is generally deeper and more lasting than material rewards. And helping to create a sustainable enterprise, that will house, feed and educate families, strikes right at the heart of our national strategy to generate more livelihoods across the country.

The shining light that is Enactus is not only the outcome from the beneficence of the student members wanting to help their fellow Swazis, but also from the continual evidence of innovation - hardly surprising, of course, given that the students are, arguably, in the most creative phase of their lives.

This has been so evident from past competitions. Last year we had a wide range of activities, from information technology, to farming in fisheries, fruits and crops – and even worms. Yes, worm farming, known as vermiculture – a project which found its way on to the international radar. I would be interested to know what emerged from that.

This year, we have projects which carry an interesting environment-sensitive feel to them. Eliminating the all-consuming weed, sandanezwe, and reclaiming the land for farming, is one such project. And there is clothing made from re-cycled material, as well as a solar energy project for women to cook their food while they work throughout the day, and a newspaper circulated to a large number of schools to broaden the knowledge of the students. It is most encouraging, as we see a steady improvement in global sensitivity to environmental issues, to encounter our young people devising resourceful techniques to use waste productively.

The momentum achieved in the Enactus programme is impressive, with 263 students taking part this year, delivering around 26,000 hours of service to approximately 9,000 beneficiaries. We are observing real commitment and, above all, we want to see it replicated across the country. Your challenge is to identify how we can get the multiplier effect into operation. To a certain extent that is built-in, since a growing number of student members are proceeding to start businesses, at the end of their studies and after participating in the Enactus programme. I understand that five such businesses have been started since 2013 with the total projected turnover for 2015 of E4 million. That is most encouraging.

At the same time, I believe it to be crucially important for the Enactus programme to analyse and report on that key component in the winning formula – sustainability in the community enterprises that the programme is helping to start. What, I ask, are the statistics with regard to previous initiatives, and what can we learn from our mentoring activities, these emerging as a crucially important input, both during set-up and in the months and years that follow the start of a business? The monitoring and evaluation process, perhaps already in progress, will give us vital information about, not only the number of enterprises that are still in business and the revenue profile on a year to year basis, but also what is being learned about the impact of the mentoring work.

There are many organisations and individuals who believe in Enactus and it must have one of the strongest boards of directors that you could put together. I take this opportunity to thank those directors for the time they are taking to provide advice and other support to Enactus. I also express the deepest gratitude to those corporations that have made a financial contribution to the ongoing operations of Enactus to make a valuable addition to the annual subvention from Government. You are recognized, not only by your generosity but also by your perception of how important is the work of this programme for tertiary students and job creation in the communities.

Today we are seeing a competition between Enactus student teams. The prize for the winning team is to travel to compete in the Enactus World Cup where it will compete against national champions from 37 other countries. That is quite a prize and quite an honour. It will therefore be a thrilling moment for that team and, I guess, a very disappointing one for the runners-up. I congratulate all the teams and ask the non-winners, so to speak, not to be discouraged. There is always next year and, if this is the end of your study course, then go out and put what you have learned into a real enterprise and get your reward that way.

I take the opportunity to thank the judges and the organisers of this event and, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, give our best wishes to the winning team when it contests the World Cup.

Thank you.