The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) recently launched an innovative campaign aimed at empowering both youth entrepreneurs and SMEs to become economically sustainable.

Based on a constructive partnership with Proudly SA, the NYDA’s first four-day ‘Buy Youth Campaign’ was officially introduced as the ‘Buy Youth, Buy Local Campaign’.

The campaign, which was piloted in Gauteng, brought together youth-established businesses (SMEs) and buyers and also featured supplier development training. It was strategically designed to target four critical industries with great potential for business development and employment creation, namely Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Electronics; Tourism; Construction, and Manufacturing.

The objectives of this campaign are to:

• Provide supplier development training;
• Create access to market opportunities for SMEs by creating a platform for interaction between industry leaders/buyers and SMEs and thereby creating procurement opportunities;
• Encourage the development of a mentorship relationship between established corporates and aspiring SMEs through the ‘Adopt a youth-owned business’ initiative.
• Provide SMEs the opportunity to market their products and services to the general public.

The interrelationship of the two pivotal campaigns – “Buy Youth, Buy Local” – was also highlighted in the context of nurturing and growing potential through support of local, and by buying and procuring locally.