Enterprise development can help South Africa’s youth tackle the many obstacles to development, including the lack of economic opportunities, jobs and skills development, as well as an education system that ineffectively prepares youth for employment, which disadvantages young people entering the labour market, says diversified mining major Anglo American South Africa executive director Khanyisile Kweyama.

Her view is based on South Africa’s ranking in the Global Youth Wellbeing Index, launched in April by the International Youth Foundation and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

The index found that a large majority of the world’s youth experience lower levels of wellbeing based on economic opportunity, health, education, safety and security, information and communication technology and citizen participation.

South Africa ranked twenty-third overall in the index and second best in citizen participation, but twenty-sixth for health and safety and security and twenty-first for information and communication technology. In the category of economic opportunity, it was ranked last.

Meanwhile, the ‘Job Opportunities and Unemployment in the South African Labour Market 2012–2013’ report, issued by the Depart-ment of Labour, indicates a need for qualified and skilled people, yet most young people have no or few qualifications and skills, says Kweyama.

Government has responded to youth unemployment and identified it as a “priority outcome”. This creates opportunities for the private sector to partner with government to achieve the objectives of the New Growth Path, as well as the National Development Plan (NDP), which recognises education and skills development as a key factor to promote economic growth.

Kweyama says corporate South Africa must also support government’s Youth Employ-ment Accord as well as the Youth Enterprise Development Strategy to facilitate skills, self-employment and enterprise development that benefits the youth of the country.

She points out that qualified and skilled young people can eliminate the skills shortage in the short and long term by starting their own businesses, which will initially create new markets and boost employment to alleviate poverty and, thereafter, lead to improved economic growth in South Africa.

Anglo American, through its enterprise devel-opment arm, Zimele, has been supporting local businesses and young entrepreneurs for more than 25 years. During this time, it has witnessed the effects of empowering young people to take their futures into their own hands.

Zimele, when launched in 1989, supported historically disadvantaged South Africans to develop commercially viable and sustainable small and medium-sized enterprises. Today, it has a network of more than 38 small business hubs in mining communities and labour sourcing areas that are ready to help entrepreneurs with business plans, financing, training and mentoring.

Zimele was the first South African initiative recognised by Business Call to Action, an inter-national partnership focused on small business development. The Millennium Development Goals and the International Finance Corporation also consider Zimele as a best practice model for companies wanting to make local busi-nesses part of their supply chains.

Zimele chan- nels its capital through six funds which have provided R921-million in funding and sup- ported 1 619 companies in the form of 2 358 loan transactions between 2008 and 2013.