CCBSA’S COMMITMENT

To Driving Economic Inclusion For Young People In South Africa

As South Africa celebrated Youth Month in June, the country continues to face the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment, where over 51% of vulnerable youth are unemployed in a stagnant economy.

With South Africa’s total unemployment rate showing no signs of improvement in the short-term, coming in at 32,9% for Q1 of 2023, according to Stats SA, poverty is a daily reality for many and exacerbates the inequality we see all around us.

According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, the youth unemployment rate for different age cohorts are:

• age 15-24 - 62.1%

• age 25-34 - 40.7%

• age 35-44 - 27.9%

In struggling economic conditions such as we are experiencing currently, we need a focused approach to tackle some of the challenges we face as a country.

Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) believes that the solution lies in the economic inclusion of youth; which starts with education.

In this way, CCBSA has adopted the pillars of education, employability and entrepreneurship as a framework for its economic inclusion strategy. The framework intends to embed economic inclusion across its value chain and makes it part of how to do business the right way, by creating gainful economic opportunities for underserved communities and enabling access to markets that boost income and yield sustainable earnings in business.

CCBSA has been on a long-standing journey to address the plight of unemployed youth, particularly in the communities it serves and operates in through education initiatives, helping young people gain the skills to become more employable, and creating opportunities through entrepreneurship programmes.

CCBSA aims to boost income, provide sustainable earning potential and improve skills and business knowledge for youth, so that they may access future opportunities, including the possibility to link to the Coca-Cola value chain today and in the future.

Education

Education is a critical tool in eradicating poverty and promoting sustained, inclusive, and equitable economic growth for sustainable development.

At CCBSA, we recognise that education is central to the development and improvement of the lives of young people in South Africa. Supporting the educational aspirations of our young people is one way in which we believe we can help turn the tide and create a better future for all in South Africa.

CCBSA launched the Study Buddy Fund in 2021 to assist young people across communities in which CCBSA has operations, to access tertiary education. The Fund pays for full tuition, accommodation fees, as well as textbooks as part of an holistic approach to supporting young students.

To date, CCBSA have invested over R8 million to support deserving students. This is one of our initiatives and one I am tremendously proud of.

The Study Buddy programme also includes support groups, career advice and study hacks to give bursary recipients “every opportunity at a successful academic career”.

Phatani Ramapundu (23) shared her story after being awarded a Study Buddy Bursary recipient, saying that she had always dreamed of furthering her studies and even as a child, she knew she was destined for greatness. >

“When I got the call that I will funded by the CCBSA, I was very excited I felt like I could touch the sky, deep down I somehow felt like it was the beginning of something greater not forgetting how it brought back my confidence. I felt like this a step closer to become the greatness I and my family had always believed in.”

The Study Buddy Fund comprises four programme pillars:

1.Host Community Bursary Programme

The Bursary Program provides scholarship support to indigent academically strong students who meet entry requirements for access to universities. This financial support covers registration, tuition, accommodation, meal allowances and textbooks.

2.University Partnerships

This provides funding to students already at university but who do not have bursaries and/or NFSAS funding and are often regarded as the “missing middle”. Of the more than 80 students we have supported to date, half were young women.

3.TVET College Support

This targets young people in CCBSA host communities who did not meet university entrance requirements. Instead, the scholarship support focuses on technical skills development, specifically geared towards the CCBSA value chain ie. electrical or mechanical engineering.

4.Ligbron

This is E-Learning Using Technology to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics and science and CCBSA has supported over 6,000 students to date.

We believe in developing young people into the capable leaders of tomorrow. Be that in communities, society, business or any other arena of life. We are determined to invest in them through holistic support programmes that offers a plethora of tools, including life skills, to assist the student to reach their full potential.

This is part of who we are as an organisation. We believe that companies which grow their businesses the right way and are invested in and support the communities in which they operate, creating inclusive and sustainable growth opportunities, will help shape a better-shared future for all – including the business itself.

Employability

At CCBSA, we have a number of initiatives which are aimed at helping job seekers find meaningful and sustainable employment.

Much of this is centred around skills development, including up-skilling or re-skilling, in order to enhance job prospects and increase earning potential.

Our focus on youth empowerment is to also assist with skills development, particularly for graduates who may require additional training in soft skills that would make them more employable or which would aid their own entrepreneurial efforts.

The success of these programmes is defined by the extent to which we boost income, unlock sustainable earning potential, improve skills, and business knowledge, resulting in access to economic opportunities.

Whether donating money, our time, or our expertise, we take our responsibility to the communities we call home seriously.

Entrepreneurship

The small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) sector is a vital engine of growth in South Africa, particularly as we still claw back many of the losses due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But starting and then sustaining a small enterprise is not a simple task. Around 70% of SMMEs fail within the first two years, with many entrepreneurs citing lack of funding, proper business skills, as well as access to markets as among the major impediments.

We launched our Bizniz in a Box (BiB) initiative in 2016 with a view to creating a platform to support emerging and small businesses, particularly those run by youth and women, and especially in informal and rural areas.

Bizniz in a Box aims to create an ecosystem of viable micro-businesses offering complementary products and services in a community, using a spaza shop as the anchor. Each business operates out of a customdesigned container. These businesses would help cover various needs of the local community, including a business centre/internet café, a car wash, a fast-food shop or a mini baker.

For the last seven years, CCBSA’s BiB has contributed meaningfully towards reducing youth unemployment by partnering with national and provincial government, local municipalities and development finance institutions. These partnerships have enabled entrepreneurs to develop businesses, improve their skills, access capital, manage supply chains, and provide jobs to others.

The BiB initiative has supported over 700 entrepreneurs across several provinces, including Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. We have provided 758 containers - including 400 for young entrepreneurs - and spent more than R120 million on BiB-related activities

Being part of the solution

At CCBSA, we have invested in multiple skills development and entrepreneurship, as well as supplier development incubation programmes, as part of building greater economic inclusion, particularly for those most marginalised in our society.

There is a need for all stakeholders to collaborate and co-create solutions that will bring hope to young people, be it providing access to education or helping them build businesses. CCBSA partners with a number of key stakeholders, from national and provincial government, local municipalities; development finance institutions such as the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA) and commercial banking institutions, to roll out BiB programmes across South Africa.

Our strategic framework seeks to embed economic inclusion across our entire value chain and make it part of how we do business the right way. Investing in communities and in the future of our people and our country will ensure the sustainability and success of our business. 

Contact Details: CCBSA

Tel: 011 848 2600

E-mail: media@ccbagroup.com

Website : www.ccbsaco.com