#YouthMonth: Opportunities for entrepreneurial youth

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Minister of Small Business Development, Lindiwe Zulu, is expected to launch the Entrepreneur Rapid Youth Incubator in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni on Thursday.

The Rapid Incubation Programme allows student graduates an entrepreneurial platform to commercialise their vocational skills.

“The programme seeks to utilise the skills of TVET [Technical Vocational Education and Training] graduates to encourage and promote an entrepreneurship culture and providing the student incubates with the necessary tools and techniques to establish their own businesses, and thus contributing to economic growth and job creation,” said the Department of Small Business Development.

The Rapid Incubation Programme is part of the department’s efforts to address the issue of youth unemployment in South Africa.

It is the first incubation programme in South Africa to offer seed-funding to the incubatees through structured pitching sessions which the incubatees can apply for.

A number of incubators have been launched across the country since its introduction in 2013.