2. Our Finding About Youth Unemployment
After a brainstorming session, Jidou, Abdul and myself (Sam) observed the following causes of youth
unemployment based on our experiences in our countries (Congo DRC, Ghana and Nigeria), and our
country of residence, South Africa.
• Illiteracy - lack of basic education and vocational training. Millions of young people cannot read or
write. And they lack liveskills and artisanship.
• Lack of support for youth innovation and entrepreneurship –
through SMEs. Overdependence on social grants.
• Lack of employable skills – youth lacks the requisite skills
required by the employers.
• Inequity in education – adequate education is more accessible to
the rich and well-to-do, who send their children to the best schools in the
country and abroad.
• Dysfunctional government institutions as a result of graft and
lack of transparency.
• Political instability – violence and war in African countries
resulting in hardship, poverty, and migration.
• Over-reliability of youth on government and big corporations for
job creation – lack of spirit of entrepreneurship.
• People from poor families are the most affected by youth
unemployment. Big companies are located in the big cities, not in the rural
areas. And there‘s a yawning digital gap between the cities and local
communities. There‘s little or no encouragement for rural small businesses
– local business owners lack the resources for Small and Medium Scale
Enterprises (SMEs) to thrive and grow in the rurals. Lack of equitable
distribution of resources.
• Partiality and Nepotism - this is a problem. And our society must
change course from the ‗business as usual‘ path that has stunted our growth
and development. We should also throw away that notion that ―everything
comes at a price‖, which has stifled meritoriousness.
3. Why Intervene?
Today‘s generation of youth — the largest the world has ever known, and the
vast majority of whom live in developing countries — has unprecedented
potential to advance the well-being of the entire human family. Yet too many
young people, including those who are highly educated, suffer from low-
wage, dead-end work and record levels of unemployment. – UN Secretary
General, Ban-Ki Moon
There are millions of unemployed youth in Africa. The continent has 200 million
people between 15 and 24 years of age. According to the Population
Research Bureau, Africa has the fastest growing and most youthful population
in the world. The International Labor Organization says 3 out of 5 unemployed
people in Africa are young people. Sadly, there are limited jobs and
opportunities for this huge number of people.
Most of these unemployed young people resort to anti-social activities that
undermine the stability of society and threaten economic growth, because
they think this is the only option. Jorge Saba Arbache of the Africa Region of
the World Bank says ‗unemployed and underemployed youth are more
exposed to conflicts and illegal activities – many of them fall prey to armed
and rebel conflicts‘. The effects are evinced in the involvement of young
people in gangsterism, drug and alcohol abuse, xenophobic attack,
prostitution, teenage pregnancy, etc, in South Africa.
4. Our Solution
How do we address this challenge? How do we create opportunities for young people? How do we
harness the potentials of the youth bulge in the African continent? These questions and more are the
focus of our proffered solutions below.
Cre8tivHandz is a youth-led non-profit company established to empower unemployed and restive
youth in township communities across the Western Cape, by equipping them with liveskills and
creating opportunities that will enable them to earn a living, while also empowering others in their
communities by passing on the skills they‘ve acquired. And ultimately helping them walk away from
anti-social behaviour. Hence, they become agents of change and resourceful members of their
communities. We have identified gaps within current youth employment efforts, strategically
modeling and implementing solutions that anchor on the three main pillars of sustainable
development (economic, social, and environmental).
At Cre8tivHandz we believe that all human beings are endowed with the ability to create and
innovate, hence, we aspire to encourage self-reliance and self sufficiency; teach live and social
skills, and create building blocks for unskilled unemployed youth by connecting them to lasting
economic opportunities. Cre8tivHandz aims to rekindle ―can do‖ spirit amongst underprivileged
young people, by stirring up their latent creativity abilities and leveraging the rich creative skills of
the Cre8tiveHandz‘s team. We are adhering to a simple creed: ―we can mitigate youth
unemployment in South Africa and beyond. It is in our hands to make a difference.‖
Cre8tivHandz believes in the School of Thought that ―it‘s better to teach someone how to fish than to
give them fish‖, a philosophy that speaks to both our organization and the belief systems we hope to
cultivate. We would like to inspire personal dignity, realized opportunity, and leadership within
underprivileged young adults who have been underexposed and underrepresented by
circumstance. There is creativity in every human person regardless of their socio-economic status,
and it takes doing to substantiate that creativity. We want to encourage underprivileged youth to
learn by doing. Offering liveskills, such as – arts and crafts, IT and social media training, mentoring,
coaching, leadership and communication skills will not only engage them meaningfully, but will
change their outlook on life, and ultimately put money in their pockets and bolster their self-
confidence.
At Cre8tivHandz, we believe in unlimited opportunities and the power of ―Can Do!‖ We believe in
shifting paradigms, breaking patterns and changing the status quo.
5. Solution continued…
Entrepreneurship is the key to inclusive sustainable economic growth and
development, and our society can only raise entrepreneurs especially at the
grassroots by substantially promoting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). SMEs
create opportunity for self employment; encourage rural development and
entrepreneurship; and acts as a shock absorber in times of economic meltdown
as we are currently experiencing throughout the world. In the current economic
climate, large companies are shedding jobs faster and more than SMEs.
Since SMEs usually operate with the barest minimum of staff, during times of
economic recession, they do not usually shed jobs because they are already
operating at the bottom and cannot go lower than they are already operating.
Thus, the Cre8tivHandz team has created a ―mobile shop‖ to empower
unemployed youth who are interested in starting small businesses, and to already
operating informal traders who struggle to put together make-shift kiosks. This is to
encourage SMEs, especially at the grassroots. The mobile shops which would be
given out free of charge will also ensure sanity and order in the street and flea
markets.
6. In the first phase of the project we will teach unemployed youth how to create hand-
made gift cards with recyclable papers and other eco-friendly materials. We have a
dynamic and talented team, however, we will partner with other human capital
development organisations and resource persons for diversified service delivery.
7. Modality and Outcome
The skills acquisition trainings and workshops
would be held in batches within six months. The
first batch would be made up of 10 unemployed
underprivileged youth, and will last for 3 months.
While the second batch which will also last for 3
months would be made up of 10 trainees. In
essence, the project will directly impact the lives
of 20 unemployed underprivileged young
people in 6 months. After their graduation, the
Cre8tivHandz team will assist them in marketing
their products and services through various
outlets across their communities and beyond.
We will also organise art exhibitions and auctions
for all the 20 trainees to display and sell their
handiworks to the general public.
