By Joao Barreto, Head of Innovation, Nestlé East and Southern Africa Region (ESAR)
Entrepreneurship is a major feature in the global economic landscape, not only as a driver of economic growth, but of job creation, innovations, and inventions. An entrepreneurial culture is the foundation of thriving economies and societies hence the need for governments, educational institutions, civil society and the private sector to work together to foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem.
As the world marks Global Entrepreneurship Week, we celebrate all forms of entrepreneurs. We acknowledge that entrepreneurship can be a force for good, a means of unlocking innovation, skills and momentum to drive economic and social progress.
Research has shown that while some global regions battle with ageing populations and declining birth rates, Sub-Saharan Africa lays claim to a median age of 19.7 with about 70% of the population under the age of 30. According to the International Labour Organisation's ‘Global Employment Trends for Youth 2020: Africa, “young people in Africa are confronted with multiple challenges ranging from economies that grew but could not create sufficient jobs prior to the global financial and economic crisis to sluggish growth post the crisis.”
Although, Africa’s young population has consistently proven to be proactive and foresighted in creating opportunities for themselves through innovative ideas. They have developed start-ups and innovations to solve a wide range of problems such as food security, supply chain efficiencies, and many more. This highlights the importance of empowering entrepreneurship in Africa as a key pillar in solving critical issues and assisting to reduce youth unemployment.
There is a great need on the continent for the private sector to step up and support youth entrepreneurs. It is critical that innovators and self-starters are provided with support structures and access to platforms that encourage and drive innovation. The young innovators will not only become sustainable entrepreneurs but will also create employment for their peers over time, providing real-life solutions while driving economic and social progress. The need for support across businesses is different and it is important that corporates engage and meet young entrepreneurs at their needs.
Encouraging and capitalising on innovative business solutions
The proverb ‘charity begins at home’ cannot be distanced from Nestlé as the organisation, through our Nestlé ESAR Innovation awards, promotes the entrepreneurial spirit amongst employees by awarding and recognising employees or departments that come up with innovative ideas that tackle some of the challenges the organisation faces or ways in which the organisation can optimise operations in a sustainable manner.
Faced with the ever-rising cost of cow feed, which was affecting the dairy farmers’ survival, Andries Malatie from the Agriculture services team, found the solution in Brachiaria grass – a dairy wonder grass from Brazil and Kenya which is an affordable and easy to cultivate grass. The Brachiaria was tested with four small scale farmers in Zimbabwe. The results found was that milk production did not decrease for that period as compared to when using commercial feed. The grass has not only reduced the cost of cow feed, it has also saved the small scale farmers from exiting the dairy industry while also increasing soil organic matter and soil carbon in line with regenerative agriculture and net zero road map. A wider scale rollout in Zimbabwe under 300 hectares is underway.
South Africa’s Customer Supply Chain was recognised for improving customer satisfaction through internal and external collaboration and digitalization of returns process. Prior to this innovation returns process was paper based with no integration internally or externally, there was no online visibility and returns were being processed manually resulting in increased lead time, cost and overdue accounts, and low customer satisfaction. The innovation has resulted in the elimination of paper and manual crediting, reduction of administrative tasks and reverse logistics lead time, improved claims clearing, improvement of working capital, increased visibility, and real-time monitoring, and improved customer satisfaction.
Supporting youth in agripreneurship to enable sustainable agriculture and economic development
A shift in mindset towards farming has seen it emerge as a viable business model that given rise to young agripreneurs who have are conscious and are setting the tone in practising sustainable agriculture while contributing immensely to the continent’s food security. It is critical that capable and willing farmers are supported and enabled in order to thrive. This can be accomplished through developing business competencies and management skills to drive entrepreneurial fortitude and create a sustainable industry while at a large scale creating economic opportunities and a net positive social impact in rural communities. Businesses should be at the forefront of supporting the youth who are making strides in accelerating the sector's evolution. Initiatives such as the Nestlé Needs Youth (NNY) Agri competition, which aimed at encouraging agripreneurship amongst young people in East and Southern Africa, is a prime example of how businesses can get involved.
Investing in small, diverse businesses to empower youth in entrepreneurship
Unlocking community and youth potential are critical steps to support entrepreneurship and building an active and impactful youth who are innovative in solving today’s challenges. Communities like Makhoba, the home of Makhoba Farm, where Nestlé’s largest black-owned dairy supplier in South Africa is situated, have young innovative entrepreneurs and agripreneurs who are creating solutions that can unlock the community’s potential and advance the community at large. Investing in these entrepreneurs and their small-scale yet diverse businesses is critical to help move the needle in our economy while significantly empowering the community, and the youth to safeguard the future.
It is important that we continue to support the youth as the future of tomorrow and encourage them to take advantage of the various programs and opportunities in entrepreneurship and agripreneurship to enhance economic empowerment and livelihoods.
END
Contact:
Nestlé East and Southern African Region (ESAR)
Rosalie Ambrose
Tel: +27 79 526 8518
Email: [email protected]é.com
Issued by Weber Shandwick on behalf of Nestlé East and Southern Africa Region
Matlhodi Mathabatha
Tel: +27 73 357 8133
Email: [email protected]
About Nestlé
Nestlé is the world’s largest food and beverage company. It is present in 187 countries around the world, and its 291,000 employees are committed to Nestlé’s purpose of unlocking the power of food to enhance quality for everyone, today and for generations to come. Nestlé offers a wide portfolio of products and services for people and their pets throughout their lives. Its more than 2,000 brands range from global icons like Nescafé or Nespresso to local favourites like Ricoffy. Company performance is driven by its Nutrition, Health, and Wellness strategy. Nestlé is based in the Swiss town of Vevey where it was founded more than 150 years ago.