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about 70% of Africa’s population is below 25 years, it is paramount that governments invest heavily in this population stratum to promote innovation. This investment should target education, health and social infrastructure. If this country could have 10 or 20 young innovators each year who in turn can create huge business empires around their innovation, we can easily solve the current problems of unemployment and a syndrome of dependency we are accustomed to.


In 2012, SA Teen Entrepreneur Foundation, an NPO founded to address teen entrepreneurship in South Africa and beyond, set off to create the first ever Big Dreams Start Young: SA National High School Enterprise competition. The hurdles they have found have been numerous. These have ranged from lack of comprehension of basic business skills by most young South Africans currently in High Schools; funding for both training and running such initiatives which are mostly seen as a luxury by the education department and parents; underdevelopment of communication lines and access into schools; curriculum inflexibility to absorb new ideas which may stimulate both the learning and understanding of both science and mathematics.


16 Management Today | September 2012


The above is in sharp contrast to countries


like Ireland where in 2012 an estimated 15 000 budding entrepreneurs from 400 secondary schools will be setting up and running their own enterprises before Christmas, according to the organisers behind the Student Enterprise Awards. The long-term goals of the Student Enterprise Programme are to create an enterprising culture in Irish classrooms. Through encouraging, supporting


and


recognising the next generation of business owners and leaders today, Ireland will see the longer-term positive impact of this programme in Irish boardrooms in the years ahead. This is what we are supposed to be doing right now if we are to see a similar set of results.


In conclusion, it can be said that yes, teenagers can be a catalyst in developing new innovations that can stimulate our economies and raise our standing in the innovation index charts and trends. Africa and South Africa are blessed to have a young population that can be harnessed into being innovation drivers. To achieve this, government policies must create the right framework and celebrate innovation more to encourage role models to come from within.


The Innovation Journal


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