With an economy that just slipped into recession and is shedding jobs, the president’s support for entrepreneurship through the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention set to provide grant funding and business support to 1000 young entrepreneurs in 100 days is unconvincing.
These entrepreneurs start and run businesses that set out to make a social or environment impact and operate in diverse areas such as energy and education. Traditionally, the argument has been that purpose and profit conflict with each other, yet impact entrepreneurs increasingly demonstrate that you can have both and be sustainable, making what seems impossible possible. They are at the leading edge of change.
For example, retailers that are worried about sustainably getting rid of plastic packaging and plastic bags look to impact entrepreneurs who contribute products and services that solve that problem. South African social enterprises are generally small, with only 12% generating an income of over R1 millionBroad Based Black Economic Empowerment legislation, especially the focus on enterprise and supplier development has had an unintended consequence of creating a large and rapidly growing entrepreneurial development industry that is unregulated.