NEWSLETTER: AUG '22 Wits Entrepreneurship Clinic - Report
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WITS ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLINIC – REPORT
By Kgomotso Mabusetsa
WHH
Unemployment in South Africa
South Africa is among the top 10 countries in Africa with the highest unemployment rate. According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), the current official national rate stands at 34,5%. Statistics South Africa reported the following data regarding youth employment in the first quarter of 2022.
- The unemployment rate was 63,9% for those aged 15-24 and 42,1% for those aged 25-34 years
- Unemployment rate among young graduates aged 15-24 declined from 40,3% to 32,6% and increased by 6,9% points to 22,4% for those aged 25-34 years in Q1 of 2022
More than half (51,6%) of the working age population (40.0 million) in Q1: 2022 were youth (15-34 years).
Impact of COVID-19 on the economy
The national lockdown in April 2020 had a detrimental effect on the South African economy, which resulted in companies closing doors and forced to layoff some of their workers. This also contributed to the alarming youth unemployment rate.
Wits Entrepreneur Clinic
The Wits School of Business Sciences (SBS) in partnership with the British Council launched the Wits Entrepreneur Clinic (WEC) on the 20th of May 2022 with the aim of mentoring and developing aspiring young entrepreneurs to become future job creators in South Africa. The Clinic is based in the Wits School of Business Science.
The Wits Entrepreneur Clinic team visited the
Jabulani D-Lab precinct on the 22nd of July 2022 to give Soweto young entrepreneurs professional and business advice.
The young people were given a platform to pitch their businesses and received advice from the panel. Two of our Health Advocates were among this group of young entrepreneurs.
The Clinic seek to:
- Provide a clinic programme for Commerce students from the School of Business Sciences focused on experiential learning and evidenced-based management.
- Develop students’ business acumen and improve their overall employability through exposure to and solving of business problems confronting student and informal entrepreneurs.
- Accelerate viable entrepreneurial opportunities identified by both student and informal entrepreneurs through the provision of a student-centric clinic programme.
- Establish and maintain a clinical footprint both locally and internationally through partnerships with key stakeholders in related entrepreneurial ecosystems.
- Harness alumni support through the development of a targeted mentorship programme.
- Use the clinic programme as a platform to encourage and support entrepreneurship research.
- Develop a culture of and appreciation for entrepreneurship as a viable alternative to employment.
- Champion and develop focal areas in digital and sustainable entrepreneurship in order to address challenges associated with the 4th IR and climate change
Well done to those who pitched and the best of luck with their future endeavours!
The Wits Health Hubb Team.
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