Every Youth Day, South Africa calls for young entrepreneurs, but is this the right approach? This article challenges the narrative, advocating for a more realistic path to success that prioritises education and experience over mere ambition.
Every Youth Day, South Africa returns to the same familiar line: young people must become entrepreneurs.
It is not wrong, and in a country with stubbornly high youth unemployment, entrepreneurship has to be a serious consideration to deal with the problem.
But the line has become too easy and detached from the realities that young people face and the conditions they actually need to build businesses that survive.
Without a doubt, teaching entrepreneurship matters, but South Africa has to move beyond the idea that an entrepreneurship course or workshop is enough to turn young people into successful business owners.
