Investing in our young people is the key to our future success

By Velaphi Ratshefola, Managing Director, Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA IS A COUNTRY RICH WITH PROMISE AND POTENTIAL, BUT ALSO FACES SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES. THE MOST PRESSING OF THESE ISSUES RELATES TO OUR COUNTRY’S UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES, AND IN PARTICULAR, THAT OF RISING YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT.

With South Africa’s unemployment rate showing no signs of improvement in the short-term, coming in at 32.9% for Q1 of 2023 according to a Stats SA Report, poverty is a daily reality for many and exacerbates the inequality we see all around us.

The unemployment picture is the worst in the youth segment, with over 51% of young people unemployed. According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate for different age cohorts is:

• age 15-24 = 62.1%

• age 25-34 = 40.7%

• 35-44 = 27.9

One ray of light is that the unemployment rate for graduates is 10.6%, which is 22.3 percentage points lower than the national official unemployment rate of 32.9%. This shows the benefit of directly investing in education outcomes early on.

Our human capital – and how we harness this – is what will define our country and our continent’s future trajectory.

Our goal must be to support and create an enabling environment for our young people to learn, grow and become economically active citizens.

To this end, Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) has adopted the three pillars of education, employability and entrepreneurship as a framework for our economic inclusion strategy.

Education: Study Buddy Fund

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 youth 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, as well as textbooks in line with our holistic approach to supporting students.

To date, we have invested over R8 million to support deserving students. This is one of our initiatives and one as an organisation, we are tremendously proud of.

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

Our Study Buddy Fund comprises four programme pillars:

1. Host Community Bursary Programme: The bursary programme 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 Partnership: 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 are registered in TVET colleges. The scholarship support focuses on technical skills development, specifically geared towards the CCBSA value chain i.e., electrical, or mechanical engineering.

4. Ligbron: This is e-Learning using technology to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics and science. CCBSA has supported over 6 000 students to date.

But more than just education support, we believe in developing young people to become capable leaders of tomorrow, be it in communities, society, business, or any other sphere of life. We are determined to invest in them through holistic support programmes that offer tools, including life skills, to assist the student to reach their full potential.

This is 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 our business.

But more than just education support, we believe in developing young people to become capable leaders of tomorrow, be it in communities, society, business, or any other sphere of life.

Employability: Skills development programmes

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 investing financial resources, our time, or our expertise, we take our responsibility to the communities we call home seriously.

Entrepreneurship: Bizniz in a Box initiative

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 microbusinesses offering complementary products and services in a community, using a spaza or house shop as the anchor. Each business operates out of a custom-designed container. These businesses would help cover various needs of the local community, including a business centre and internet café, a car wash, a fast-food shop or a mini baker.

Through our BiB programme, we are hoping to help reduce youth unemployment and associated poverty levels and inequality by providing opportunities for youth to grow, sustain their businesses and have an enhanced quality of life. 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 BiBrelated activities.

I am a firm believer in co-creating solutions that will help youth and by extension, our country - and, coupled with the energy and enterprise of youth, the Bizniz in a Box (BiB) is the perfect vehicle to help drive the critical SMME sector. Our responsibility is to have the appetite to continue providing them with continuous support as that’s the only way we can guarantee success.

I admire the enterprise and resilience of young people, but we have a responsibility to create a conducive environment and to provide the tools and platforms for young people to plough their energies and ideas into.

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.

There is a need for all stakeholders to collaborate and cocreate solutions that will bring hope to young people, be it providing access to education, employing them or helping them build businesses.

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.

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.

Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) is a proudly South African company that began operating as a legal entity in July 2016, after the merger of six non-alcoholic ready-to-drink bottling operations. We are a level 1 B-BBEE empowered company. We employ over 7 000 people at 13 manufacturing facilities across the country. As a subsidiary of CocaCola Beverages Africa (CCBA) and a bottler for The Coca-Cola Company, our vision is to refresh Africa every day and make our continent a better place for all.

We manufacture and distribute Coca-Cola beverages that make life’s everyday moments more enjoyable, while doing business the right way. The result is shared opportunities for our customers, our employees, our communities, and our shareholders. We conduct our business ethically, transparently, and conscientiously. We espouse an inclusive business culture to reflect our African identity.

We accelerate sustainable, profitable revenue growth across all categories and offer an innovative portfolio of products that respond to customer needs and consumer preferences. Profitability is important, but not at any cost. People matter. Our planet matters. We do business the right way by following our values and partnering for solutions that benefit us all.