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FUND OR FEAST RETURNS?

20/07/2018 03:51:00 By Martin Dlamini

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IT has become a norm that the ‘rob Peter to pay Paul syndrome’ plays itself out each week as government continues to face financial challenges towards meeting its obligations.

There is no end in sight. However, my attention was drawn to the availability of funds for a change. A launch of the Youth Fund took place this week, which is probably one of very few government entities to have money that is ready to be dished to applicants.

Well this is good news, given government’s huge public debt that is seeing companies crumbling due to non-payment for services rendered. At least the money is targeted at empowering our youth that is desperate for employment opportunities and not some luxury spending.

The challenge facing our youth is more serious than it is played out. According to the External Assistance to Swaziland Report 2016/17, it is estimated that roughly one in four people in the labour market find themselves unemployed and that the 25 to 29 age group face an unemployment rate of nearly 40 per cent.

This is a large population of youth, by any measure, to be left wandering around. Any effort to address this challenge has to be commended but only as far as it is genuine.
We have had funds in the past that have been so terribly mismanaged that the beneficiaries took loans to splash on luxuries and pay dowry.

Well now the fund has a new CEO and it is promising to correct the mistakes of the past that saw it being run to the ground. According to the new modus operandi, the youth will not be given cash in hand.
The fund will be responsible for paying the supplier directly and these projects will be followed up frequently to ensure the purchased items are used strictly for the business.

This is a wait and see, as a similar concept was used with the Regional Development Fund (RDF), where material was left to rot, while some had items sold for cash and then reported stolen.
Some of the companies that supplied on government orders are still chasing payment. The Youth Enterprise Fund has partnered with SEDCO and Junior Achievement (JA) to provide the youth proper guidance and assistance as they seek to establish themselves. Hopefully this will curb the ‘fly-by-night’ tendencies of the past, where company directors suddenly disappeared after receiving the loans.

Another interesting revelation about the revival of the fund is the commitment by government to engage companies doing business with it to subcontract a certain portion of the work to youth registered companies. Well this is a noble idea but it cannot be allowed to compromise quality.

SEDCO and JA have got their work cut out for them to see to it that these youth companies are highly competitive.
I am not a fan of spoon feeding because the recipient often doesn’t value the support. We have seen government move down this road not so long ago by legislating certain businesses for Eswatini citizens as a way of protecting them against competition.
Logic dictates that if one is not naturally competitive, they would never be able to see an opportunity even if it was staring them in the face.

Local SMEs lost the competition to Asian traders because they lacked competitiveness. Legislating in their favour will not make them any better.
Speaking at the launch, the Sports, Youth and Culture Minister, David ‘Cruiser’ Ngcamphalala, reminded the youth that employment was no longer about white collar jobs, which is true.

The youth of today had better understand that opportunity knocks for those willing to roll up their sleeves and engage in practical work like farming. The more creative and innovative ones can tap into the ICT sector to develop products that provide a solution for today’s challenges. The youth should also understand that they will soon be competing with the fourth industrial revolution where almost every job will be mechanised. Cars are already self-driven and who knows what’s next.

The other challenge facing our youth is the business environment itself. Obtaining these funds to compete in a highly taxed business environment, with high electricity and water tariffs, high communication costs, high fuel prices and a slow economic growth, will require a highly resilient and hard working crop of young businesspeople. Do we have such young people?