This year’s top 18 national finalists for the South African Breweries’ (SAB’s) youth entrepreneurship programme, SAB KickStart, was announced last month in Johannesburg, and coincided with the competition’s twentieth anniversary.
The programme aims to promote entrepreneurship among black youth between the ages of 18 and 35.
The year-long competition, which will conclude in November, provides intense business skills training and business development support for capable young entrepreneurs.
The candidates will compete for business grants worth more than R6-million and other benefits to further develop their businesses.
To date, more than 22 700 entrepreneurs have benefited from KickStart and more than 3 200 business have been started by KickStart participants.
Each of the finalists is currently participating in an intensive business development support programme. The top five entrepreneurs will be honoured at an awards ceremony at the end of the year during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2015, where they could win additional grant funding of between R100 000 and R500 000.
SAB head of sustainability and transformation Mpho Sadiki says the brewer is encouraged by young entrepreneurs taking advantage of the opportunities in South Africa’s core industries, including agriculture, health, energy and sustainability, as the majority of the finalists’ businesses are in these fields.
A business development strategy has been developed for each of the finalists’ businesses according to a needs analysis that was undertaken at the beginning of 2015.