The Y-AGE Programme targets young school leavers and entrepreneurs, piloted by Gauteng’s MEC of Economic Development, Qedani Mahlangu. The initiative aims to assist the Gauteng government in identifying 100 000 promising entrepreneurs, following which, they will assess their needs, train them and provide them with the funding to establish their enterprises.
Travis Brown, general manager of Unlimited’s mall activation specialist comments, “The campaign has been welcomed as a great success as a pilot project in Ekurhuleni, where thousands of young people were trained to run their own businesses. In expanding the programme the provincial government and GEP executed seven campaigns concurrently for one week at Maponya Mall, Southgate, Westgate, Eastgate, the East Rand Mall, Cresta and Menlyn shopping centres. Shoppers interested in the programme were able to go through the entire registration programme on the spot to ascertain whether they qualify for the training and financial support.
The most effective way to alert, educate and attract the desired target market to the project, is to get into a one-one-on situation where the youth spend extended dwell time, en masse. With Mall Active’s activation stands set up in these thriving malls, the Gauteng Government is guaranteed of speaking directly to those best suited to benefit from the project.”
It is envisaged that once prospective entrepreneurs have been through the programme, they will each hire between three and five people in order to assist the government in creating a million new jobs.
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