Umsobomvu Youth Fund Annual Report 2006 - Nyda

Job Opportunities and Seekers DatabaseThe Job Opportunities and Seekers Database (JOBS) is aimed at linking job seekers toemployment opportunities in both private and public sectors. Employers can be linkedto youth from the database at no charge. The JOBS service provides full recruitment andplacement services to prospective employers i.e. matching, screening, linking functions.The highlight of the programme for the year under review was the luncheon meetinghosted by the Deputy President of the Republic, Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, graced byPresident Thabo Mbeki, with government departments, state-owned entities and privatesector companies at the presidential guesthouse in December 2005. Many companiesand state entities that were present at the meeting made a public pledge to utilise theJOBS service for their recruitment needs. Since its implementation in 2005, JOBS hasplaced almost 500 young people in jobs, learnerships and internships.Enterprise FinanceThe Enterprise Finance Unit provides finance to small, micro and medium-sizedbusinesses which confer significant economic benefits to youth. This benefit may bein the form of active ownership and management of a business and employment ofyoung people.During the year under review, the Enterprise Finance Unit, together with its bankingpartners, approved about R150 million in funding to over 6 600 enterprises. This bringsthe total amount approved since the inception of the Unit in 2003 to about R250 million.More than 90% of those who received loans were women.One of the Fund’s strategies is to deliver its products and services by entering intopartnerships with other institutions. The Fund has existing SME partnerships with FirstNational Bank Limited (FNB) (R320 million SME development capital fund) and BusinessPartners (R125 million franchise fund). These funds are managed by FNB and BusinessPartners respectively and are accessible throughout the country. The partnership with FNBwas piloted in 2003 with a capital contribution by FNB of R20 million. As a result of itssuccess, with effect from 1 April 2005, FNB increased its commitment to R240 million.Skills Development andTransferSchool-to-WorkThis programme focuses specifically onassisting unemployed young men andwomen to transcend the barriers thatcurrently exist for young professionalsattempting to gain entry into occupationswhere there is both a labour market needand an imperative to achieve employmentequity. The programme targets bothunemployed graduates who are unableto successfully access the world of work,as well as under or unqualified youngpeople who have an interest in enteringa particular profession. The School-to-Work Programme is based on a modelthat acknowledges that technical skillsare not sufficient to break the barriersto the world of work and that youngpeople need exposure to the workplace,as well as the development of a seriesof life skills for professional and personaldevelopment.The School-to-Work Programme has,in the past year, enabled more youngpeople to become entrepreneurs, byintegrating Entrepreneurship Educationand a job development component intoits programmes.During the year under review, the Fund has reached agreement for the delivery of itsproducts to small businesses with Free State Development Corporation and LimpopoDevelopment Corporation. In addition, it entered into a partnership with ABSA BankLimited and Northern Cape Provincial Government for the establishment of a R15 millionfund, which will provide loans to small and micro enterprises which are owned andmanaged by youth.In December 2003 the Fund entered into a partnership with Marang Financial Servicesand Small Enterprise Foundation for the provision of micro loans to young and emergingentrepreneurs. An amount of about R14 million was provided and will be used as alimited revolving fund for the funding of youth.In an effort to increase the pool of youth and women accessing loans in order toaccess franchise opportunities through the Umsobomvu Business Partner FranchiseFund, the Fund has initiated a programme to train 221 youth and women on allaspects of franchising and managing a business in general. The Fund has enteredinto a partnership with Sanlam, Business Partners, Gauteng Economic Propeller andEntrepreneurial Business School to implement this project. In the last quarter of thefinancial year UYF entered into a joint venture with Massmart Limited for the financing of33 Hot Dog Café franchises to be owned by youth. To date 11 franchises have beenestablished and located at Massmart-owned stores such as Makro, Builders Warehouseand Game.The STW Further Educationand Training (FET) CollegesProgrammeThe STW FET Colleges Programme wasdesigned to “improve the employability ofyouth in high-growth sectors through thedevelopment of high and intermediateleveltechnical skills and the acquisitionof credible work experience.” Theprogramme is implemented in partnershipwith the Department of Education, and wasinformed by UYF’s previous experience inyouth skills development in general, aswell as on its previous involvement withthe Further Education and Training Collegesin particular. The programme is a uniqueintervention that has been designed tocontribute to the transformation of theFET sector. In addition, the programmeendeavours to build the capacity ofcolleges to design and implement trainingprogrammes for young women and menthat lead to meaningful employmentoutcomes. Through this programme, UYFUmsobomvu Youth Fund 2006 Annual Report21