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Jeremy Maggs | 30 March 2023 Picture: 123RF/ROMAN MOTIZOV New proposals are aimed at achieving a substantial change in the racial composition of ownership and management. Continuing lack of access to market share and capital is one of the key motivations behind new proposals put forward by the marketing, advertising and communication (MAC) charter sector code that is out for public comment. The code affects the BEE scores of agencies that form part of the R30bn sector. According to research by the Sanlam Gauge, the BEE Commission and the Interactive Advertising Bureau South Africa that was presented to parliament, transformation targets set out in the 2016 sector code were “minimal and easily achieved”. The MAC council is made up of a number of industry bodies, including the Association for Communication & Advertising, the Marketing Association of South Africa, the Advertising Regulatory Board and the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa. Several key proposals have been made, including those relating to voting rights by black people in the entity being raised to 75% from the current 50% to achieve five scorecard points. Additionally, voting rights by black women in the entity are raised to 51% from a current 15% to achieve three points. In the preamble to the proposal, the MAC council says a limited number of medium-sized businesses — let alone large businesses — are owned and controlled by black people in the sector. The document says most black entrepreneurs have indicated that access to market and capital has been the main challenge in acquiring equity in businesses or start-ups. The new proposals are aimed at achieving a substantial change in the racial composition of ownership and management, increasing effective economic participation for black-owned and black-managed enterprises and advancing the meaningful participation of black people in the mainstream economy. It’s also proposed that economic interest in an entity to which black people are entitled be raised to 51% from 30% to achieve four points and to 40% from a current 15% to be awarded three points. There are proposals that relate to supplier development, for example that broad-based BEE (BBBEE) procurement spend be raised to 80% from the current 15% to achieve five points on the scorecard. The proposals will no doubt we welcomed by the recently formed Black Agencies Network Association (Bana), created in the wake of calls to transform the industry by the South African Human Rights Commission, which conducted an inquiry into the sector. At the time, Bana chairperson Groovin Nchabeleng told the FM it was critical that unheard black voices in the industry be heard. The FM has reached out to several agencies for their reaction to the proposals and the effect they will have on business if they are activated. Most agencies declined, with some offering the traditional response of the proposals being studied carefully. Thabang Skwambane, CEO of Nahana Communications Group, which houses the big FCB agency, told industry website MarkLives: “We understand the viewpoints that have been raised by small up-and-coming agencies that it can be difficult to break into the market. We also recognise that this is especially the case for 100% black-owned entrepreneurs. We strongly believe that there needs to be significantly more successful 100% black South African-owned businesses in the marketplace.” Media strategist Gordon Muller believes advertiser BEE status needs to be measured based on the final transaction — “the place where I pay for the audience”. He says: “If the money doesn’t include the genuine small media owners or culturally aligned content creators, the whole thing is a farce. You can get your BBBEE status approved on 5% of your budget and I can give the other 95% to foreign companies like Meta and Google and not one cent stays in the country. How can that be considered transformation?” Muller says an industry measure needs to be created that aims for cognitive diversity, not demographic realignment. “Reward advertisers with BBBEE points for creating content in all 11 official languages, for instance. If the most important global development is brands with purpose, we need to support media with purpose and give points to advertisers who support community media — and double tax breaks for advertisers who shoot local television commercials rather than use global work. “If you start shooting television commercials in Zulu and Sepedi, you’ll have to employ black talent — that’s natural transformation. What’s the point of employing a black copywriter so that they can sit and back-translate bad concepts from Western Europe and North America?” ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.businesslive.co.za/redzone/news-insights/2023-03-30-advertising-industry-debates-new-bee-scorecard-targets/

An organisation’s ‘Leviable Amount’ is defined in the fourth schedule of the Income Tax Act . It is the total amount of remuneration, paid or payable or deemed to be paid or payable by an employer to its employees during any month for purposes of determining the employer's liability for any employee’s tax in terms of that schedule, whether or not such an employer is liable to deduct or withhold such an employee’s tax. Essentially, the determination of an organisation's ‘Leviable Amount’ is based on its payroll. Therefore, only employees on the payroll determine the variable amount of Skills Development over an organisation's measurement period. Thus, an employer must use the total amount of remuneration to determine the Skills Development Levy. As per the 2008 Verification Manual, the source of evidence of an organisation's ‘Leviable Amount’ would be payroll documentation and its annual statement. Skills Development Services are available to guide members on any issues relating to their ‘Leviable Amount’.

Paramount to the success of any B-BBEE Strategy is the holistic knowledge of the definitions and interpretations held in Schedule 1 . The core reason is that definitions contained within other pieces of legislation, in some instances, differ from Schedule 1. Schedule 1 directs that: Interpretation of the Codes must be according to the provisions in Schedule 1 unless the context requires a different meaning. In interpreting the provisions of the Codes, any reasonable interpretation consistent with the objectives of the Act must take precedence. Words importing persons shall, where the context so requires or admits, include individuals, firms, partnerships, trusts, corporations, governmental bodies, authorities, agencies, unincorporated bodies of persons or associations and any organisation having legal capacity. Technical Compliance Services are available to assist members with understanding definitions.

Many organisations opt to use third parties in the implementation phase of their B-BBEE Strategy, which the Codes of Good Practice allow for. However, an organisation may only claim the spend from the time the Beneficiary, not the third-party facilitator, receives it. In addition, a B-BBEE claim is reserved for the originator of the funds and not the third-party facilitator. Essentially, a B-BBEE Verification will follow the money and evaluate the claim from the time it reaches the end Beneficiary. Scorecard Monitoring Services are available to guide members on third-party facilitators.

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Staff Writer | 29 March 2023 Rectron says internship and learnership programmes are crucial to South Africa’s effort to combat unemployment. The company notes that according to Stats SA, as of the end of February 2023, the country’s unemployment rate is 32.7%, one of the highest globally. “While this figure may have dropped slightly in recent months, there is still a high unemployment rate among the youth. According to Stats SA, 43.4% of people between the ages of 15 and 34 are unemployed – a concerning amount given that this age range makes up more than half of the country’s employable workforce,” the company adds. According to André Witbooi, learning & development manager at Rectron, the company's development programmes are aimed at addressing ICT sector scarce skills. Lebogang Dire, talent acquisition specialist at Rectron, says the company's internship programme focuses on developing people from previously disadvantaged communities, aiming to "equip school leavers with the necessary skills to have a career and earn a living for themselves and provide for their families.” According to Lebogang the programme is intended to absorb all of the interns into Rectron’s business as full time employees at the end of the year-long internship. Since the initiative was started in 2022, Rectron has been able to offer permanent positions to all its interns across its different departments including IT and technical solutions, finance, HR, logistics and supply chain management, she says. Much needed breakthough For Mpho Molete, 26, becoming a Rectron intern as a graduate was the opportunity he needed to enter the formal employment space. “Before joining the programme, I was actively in the job market, searching for learnerships, internships, any entry-level positions. I even took a chance and applied for some managerial positions,” says Molete. “By the time I saw the Rectron Internship advertisement, I had applied to 60-something different roles and jobs.” While on LinkedIn one day, Molete saw Rectron was looking for a human resources (HR) graduate and sent off his CV. Two weeks later, he went through a couple of screening questions on the phone before he was invited to two more rounds of interviews. Molete was then offered a spot on Rectron’s 12-month internship programme with 11 other graduates and joined the HR department as an intern. During his first year at Rectron, Molete was exposed to the different job functions within HR including recruitment, learning and development, payroll, and health and safety. “My experience as an intern was amazing,” says Molete. He believes the Rectron Internship Programme prepared him for the more challenging transition to permanent employment ithrough not only exposing him to the different HR job functions, but also letting him pick up important soft skills such as time management, communication, and goal setting." ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.itweb.co.za/content/PmxVE7KEaY2qQY85

BR Reporter | 29 March 2023 Kgomotso Sekhu (YES Alumni), a business intelligence data analyst Nedbank (right to left), Ravi Naidoo, the CEO of the Youth Employment Service (YES) and Mawanda Faniso (YES Alumni), an advanced Aerial Drones pilot. Photo: Supplied The Youth Employment Service (YES) has deployed 100 000 young South Africans into the private sector within just four years, the private sector funded non-profit said in a statement on Wednesday. YES works with businesses to place or sponsor unemployed youth in 12-month quality work experiences that are fully funded by the private sector, giving them the critical experience and skills that they need to secure future employment. In the process, these work experiences have seen R6 billion in salaries injected into local economies across South Africa. “With most of these youth coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, they have the chance to not just change the course of their lives but also that of the country," said YES CEO Ravi Naidoo. He said YES hadn’t just created 100 000 jobs, it had given young people the skills, work experience and social networks they needed to contribute to the economy for the next 40 years and beyond. “It is these future professionals, entrepreneurs and change-makers who will drive our economic prosperity in the years to come,” said Naidoo. “The fact that two out of three youth are currently unemployed keeps us awake at night. It must do the same for all of South Africa, especially corporates,” he added. This as 61% of YES Youth coming from social grant-recipient households and 77% with dependants, their incomes benefit entire families and even communities. These youth also work in industries and roles that build their local villages, towns and economies. Given the low rates of economic growth, Naidoo said South Africa was currently producing neither the volume nor type of jobs required to reverse the current unemployment trend. Currently, more than 400 000 new job-seekers entered the market every year, but the country has only created an average of 150 000 net jobs per year over the past 10 years. “What we need are jobs and initiatives that have a multiplier effect down the line. We must find ways to turn one job into 10, or more. This can only be made possible by unleashing the potential of the country’s youth, creating a talent pipeline for young people from poor households to enter the economy and become the drivers of the changes that the country so desperately needs. “If South Africa is to succeed over the next 10 years, we need to get as many of your talented youth as possible into meaningful roles in the economy,” he said. Research showed that 40% of YES alumni were currently employed and 15% were involved in entrepreneurial activity – higher than the national average. Data released earlier this month from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), looking at the last quarter of 2022, showed that the youth unemployment rate measuring job-seekers between 15 and 24 years of age rose to 61%, up from an over two-year low of 59.6% in the previous period. YES said one of them, 25-year-old Chulumanco Lonwabo Nomtyala, a Microsoft YES alumnus based in the Eastern Cape, had designed an app called Soft 4IR Apps that would help people apply seamlessly for housing subsidies. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/companies/yes-reaches100-000-jobs-mark-giving-youth-vital-access-into-private-sector-1ba0bf5f-85a1-4f29-82f1-e872ebb84411

Brad Fisher | 30 March 2023 Picture: 123RF/ELNUR The proposed amendments fall short of the mandate to drive meaningful participation and may even have the opposite effect. In an effort to drive meaningful participation among black South Africans in the marketing, advertising & communications (MAC) industry, the department of trade, industry & competition recently proposed updates to the broad-based BEE (BBBEE) sector code. The intent behind the updated legislation is to accelerate the rate of transformation and address social injustice in the sector by improving ownership, management control, skills development, enterprise development and supplier development initiatives, while contributing to socioeconomic development in the country. However, we believe the amendments fall woefully short of the code’s mandate to drive “meaningful participation” and may, in fact, have the opposite effect. The MAC sector code applies to organisations that derive more than 50% of their profit from advertising, public relations and marketing communication across all media, including digital platforms. The updated regulations will, among other stipulations, require sector companies to boost the BEE contribution to company ownership and procurement from 50% to 70% to remain compliant. With these proposed amendments the sector has a unique opportunity to drive meaningful reform and positively contribute to socioeconomic upliftment, as small-, medium- and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) are the key drivers of economic growth and development. The National Development Plan forecasts that SMMEs will generate more than 90% of all new jobs by 2030. However, rather than take up the mantle and lead the way for other key economic sectors, the proposed sector code updates will simply perpetuate the narrow enrichment that creates industry fat cats. While the intent of the proposed changes is laudable in principle, the reality is that the BEE model in SA is defunct, and the codes do not work to support grassroots development, especially regarding enterprise development and supplier development initiatives. Fronting structures Little or no money generated from the BEE codes through ownership and preferential procurement reaches sectors that need it most — the two lowest-income categories comprising the informal and microbusiness sectors. Unsurprisingly, the new proposed legislation for the MAC sector will also fail to reach the grassroots level to empower more people, particularly among microenterprises, independent contractors and the informal sector. The proposed amendments to the terms of ownership that apply more rigid criteria for a larger proportion of black ownership, will most likely lead to more arbitrage opportunities for unscrupulous businesspeople to create fronting structures that allow companies to maintain the status quo. The amended legislation makes little provision to create a broader ownership base by only allocating three points to genuine broad-based grassroots participation in companies. Applying heavier weightings to this ownership category is vital to broaden the financial impact of this legislation and drive meaningful change through a transfer of ownership in the sector. Regarding procurement, there is nothing in the updated legislation that pushes companies in the industry to preferentially use small businesses, microenterprises or informal sector businesses. In its current guise the legislation awards points for procuring goods and services from businesses from qualifying small enterprises — 51% black-owned businesses that generate less than R50m in annual turnover — and exempted microenterprises with annual revenues of less than R10m. These criteria in effect disincentive companies from working with the most important yet largely marginalised sector of the economy — small businesses generating less than R1m per annum in revenue and informal sector businesses, including all traders or service providers that are not in full-time, secure or stable employment and generate less than R200,000 in annual revenue. Remains trapped The issue is that companies can simply accumulate the required points by procuring from a few qualifying small enterprises and exempted microenterprises rather than distributing procurement budgets across hundreds or even thousands of smaller enterprises or individuals. As such, money remains trapped at the top of the funnel and none filters down to those operating at the bottom end of the revenue spectrum, which is what is ultimately needed to drive meaningful enterprise development and provide genuine support to economically vulnerable individuals, while bringing new entrants from the informal sector into the industry. If the department of trade, industry & competition is serious about driving transformation in the sector it will award procurement bonus points to any business contracting with microenterprises and informal traders. It will also mandate that companies incrementally increase the proportion of spend to these categories over time to remain compliant. Some large corporates and fund managers may argue that the administrative burden of administering procurement spend or empowerment funds across thousands of enterprises is onerous, impractical and fails to meet corporate governance requirements. However, technology-based solutions exist that create the economies of scale needed to administer and distribute procurement budgets effectively and at low cost. Estimates suggest there are already more than 1.5-million informal service providers registered on on-demand platforms such as Uber, Bolt, Mr Delivery, SweepSouth and Money4Jam, which provides access to 1-million members who possess smartphones and are available at short notice to perform pieces of work for corporates, from promotions work to quantitative research or market surveys. Allocating at least some budget to digital platforms and aggregators can provide access to tens of thousands of informal businesses and microenterprises at scale without the complexity and administrative burden. Yet the broader industry and government continue to hide behind their straw man argument that this level of grassroots empowerment is not feasible. The reality is that we have access to a broad array of enabling digital platforms in SA that effectively and efficiently aggregate microservices. These platforms can give the corporate market access to microenterprises and informal sector business at scale, creating opportunities for companies to leverage the multiplier effect for greater impact while aligning their BEE and environmental, social & governance efforts to craft shared value solutions. If the government is unwilling to mandate this level of transformation it is incumbent on the sector to lead the way with a discretionary approach to true grassroots enterprise and supplier development that will finally achieve meaningful transformation within the sector. • Fisher is founder of the Adreach Group and SDI Trust. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2023-03-30-brad-fisher-marketing-and-communications-codes-fail-to-empower-smmes/

OLC Through the Line Communications | 29 March 2023 Africa's leading through-the-line agency is proud to announce its newly acquired Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Level 1 certification. The high-engagement agency's Level 1 BBBEE status reflects the company's commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and will offer clients enhanced procurement recognition and contribute to the broader economic transformation agenda. Through the years, OLC has recognised and continues to recognise the importance of creating a gender-inclusive workplace and commitment to empowering women. This sees OLC celebrate a watershed milestone – an agency 18-year first, where a substantial part of its executive talent are phenomenal female powerhouses who anchor various departments within the business. Founder and CEO Jerome Cohen believes that he's had the privilege of working with some genuinely unique teams: "But I have to say that our female executive team is absolutely exceptional. These women bring a level of intelligence, passion, and creativity that is truly inspiring. They can navigate the complexities of our industry with grace and agility, and their insights and ideas have been instrumental in driving our company's success. I'm honoured to work alongside them and am constantly amazed by their impact on our business and culture." Formidable names lead Strategy, Activations, Promotions, Finance, PR, and Operations with extensive industry know-how that navigates their path and helps them play an instrumental role in effectively driving progressive marketing solutions to diverse clients across various sectors. OLC's Level 1 BBBEE certification comes hot on the heels of a rigorous pitch process that led to the business being awarded a deserving contract as the tripartite lead agency for Coca-Cola's most extensive campaign – Unapologetically Coke No Sugar 2023. In addition to Coca-Cola, OLC has an expansive client base that services brands such as Huawei, SunBet, Pernod South Africa (GH Mumm, Avion, Martell), Tiger Brands, Bayer, Discovery, Johnsons, and Kia, amongst others, proving that OLC is on an unstoppable upward trajectory and looking to take your brand to the next level with it. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/423/237222.html

Pierre Bekker | 27 March 2023 For industries and organisations that do not specialise in recruitment, finding the right skills for a specific business or project can be extremely challenging and time-consuming. This is exacerbated when the skills sought are highly specialised and globally scarce. Once found, it is essential for the employing company to double-check the veracity of the candidates’ qualifications and skills. Often, businesses need to look abroad for skills that are in short supply, such as underwater welding, with no reliable means of knowing whether references and recent work experience is legitimate. This means that bringing in such individuals is done at high risk to the business, with the added strain of the employer having to bring in such workers, sponsor their visa applications and travel while still providing accommodation and covering other costs. Here, partnering with a Temporary Employment Services (TES) provider can turn the needle-in-a-haystack search into a seamless process, making it easier to recruit specialist skills from all over the globe safely and reliably. The skills search is on With so many renewable energy projects urgently due to start all over South Africa, and a growing shortage of skills in other established industries such as construction, engineering, mining, and manufacturing, companies are having to search farther and wider to locate the skills they need to get the job done. This can be a huge burden, both from a time and administrative perspective, not to mention highly risky for the business if they bring in resources from overseas only to discover that their skills are inadequate or lacking, or the candidate isn’t the right fit for the job. Making such a discovery after a project has already begun will cause huge, costly delays and the recruitment process will have to start all over again. Partnering with the professionals To avoid being put in such a situation where budgets are already tight and deadlines are beyond urgent, businesses seeking skills in short supply should partner with a TES provider. Specialising in the recruitment of scarce skills, TES providers have extensive databases of industry-relevant skills for candidates all over the world. These databases have already been checked and vetted, and TES providers have a wealth of experience in assisting businesses to get the exact resources they need, without undue delay. A TES partner will prove invaluable in assisting businesses through the entire process of bringing in the necessary resources, right from recruitment, through to the end of their contract when the workers must be repatriated. Mitigating risk and streamlining the search With a TES provider by your side, the risk and stress of hiring specialist skills is eliminated. The recruitment process becomes seamless, and the TES partner handles every aspect of sourcing, attracting, short listing, screening, interviewing and the assessment of suitable candidates. A reputable TES provider will have developed their recruitment brand to such an extent that it is easier for them to attract candidates, both nationally and internationally. TES providers also augment already-significant databases using tactics such as meta-search engines, social recruiting, print media and radio recruitment campaigns to ensure that both active and passive job seekers are targeted. Holistic employment management In addition to handling all aspects of finding and verifying the right skills, a TES provider also manages all aspects of employment. This is one less thing for the organisation to worry about, and they benefit from having access to the skills they need, while their TES provider oversees all Human Resources (HR) processes associated with these resources such as payroll, Industrial Relations management, health, and safety compliance, Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE), and so forth. By partnering with a TES provider, businesses can get skilled, reliable resources that are entirely managed on their behalf, on demand. This means that projects are less likely to be delayed due to human resource issues, which further translates to time and cost savings that far outweigh the fixed costs involved in partnering with a TES provider. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.cbn.co.za/industry-news/skills-training-development/finding-specialised-skills-made-easy-with-a-temporary-employment-services-provider/

Lunga Simelane | 28 March 2023 General views of the African National Congress (ANC) headquarters Luthuli House in Johannesburg. Picture: Michel Bega The ruling party is targeting 20% from the white voters, with an undetermined percentage from the other race groups. A drive to up its membership may reportedly see the ANC target white people to help improve its chances in the 2024 election. According to City Press, the ruling party is targeting 20% from the white voters, with an undetermined percentage from the other race groups. Strategy In an aim to attract more white voters in next year’s national elections, the ANC considered adopting a document presented by a group of its white, Indian and coloured members, which was part of its strategy to regain the two-third majority. It was understood the document was drafted by a group led by ANC member JP Pretorius, who said it was to make the determination of the character of the party, which the national conference concurred with, to speak and to mobilise communities as part of the renewal. Political analyst Xolani Dube said this was nothing but “ANC gimmicks”. He said if one looked at the policies of the ANC or any other political party, it would show who the beneficiaries of these policies really were. “I think it is one of those … discourses that the ANC always throws into the public to gain relevance and be seen as shapers and they set the agenda. “The fact of the matter is there is no need for the ANC to go and recruit because their policies and everything of the ANC are favouring their people. They are throwing into the valley of nothing with their comments,” he said. Dube said it was crucial to note that the ANC was running away from its true responsibility. “The responsibility which was the resolutions that include doing away with structural economic imbalances in our country. The responsibility of providing security and education to the vulnerable. “Just really lifting the standards of South African natives to a human level that is acceptable.” Expert weighs in While it was said that President Cyril Ramaphosa was also driving the issue to attract other groups and hoped the party would deploy some of them in government to reflect it as a nonracial organisation with equal representation, political analyst Amanda Gouws said the ANC had alienated many people of different races with the absolutist application of black economic empowerment) and broad-based black economic empowerment policies. “Who is going to believe them? Will they also give white people food parcels and T-shirts?” she asked. ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri did not respond to a request for comment. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.citizen.co.za/news/anc-hoping-white-votes-2024-election-victory-marcch-2023/

Staff Reporter | 27 March 2023 When they are given the appropriate support and enabling environment, young people in Africa can take advantage of new opportunities, develop innovative solutions, and contribute to building sustainable and resilient agrifood systems, according to a UN report released in 2022. Africa as a region has the highest percentage of youth in the world with an estimated 420 million people aged 15 to 35, and its share of rural youth is projected to rise to 37% by 2050. Young people as producers and traders of food, as workers, innovators and entrepreneurs, and as policy actors are already playing an important role in agrifood systems. But they face a range of age-specific vulnerabilities and difficulties, and those living in rural and underdeveloped areas face additional challenges, including fewer opportunities to access quality education and vocational training, and lack of access to information, decent jobs, land, finance and markets. They are exposed to hazardous work and have insufficient opportunities to participate in policy dialogues and other decision-making processes. They are also confronted with broader challenges in rural areas such as the lack of, or limited access to, basic infrastructure and services, Internet connectivity, and environmental degradation. Youth as a group is diverse. It is a dynamically changing group characterised not only by age but also by a set of intersectional dimensions, such as gender, education, wealth, ethnicity, health and geographic location. Additionally, it is important to recognise that young people are more likely than adults to migrate, and their life course often includes periods of mobility and migration, which has an impact on their level of engagement in agriculture and food systems over time. Young women, especially those living in rural and conflict-prone areas, face additional barriers related to sociocultural norms, additional responsibilities within households, limited freedom and mobility, early marriage and pregnancy. These barriers limit women’s and girls’ ability to take advantage of economic and social opportunities. Gender inequalities have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the additional burdens of domestic work, access to education and health services, and access to technology (the digital divide). Crises have disproportionate effects on young people (especially young women), but they also create spaces for innovation. Conflicts, natural disasters and pandemics disrupt education and destroy jobs and sources of income, leading to migration and displacement, social unrest, and aggravated inequalities. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic has also shown how young agri-entrepreneurs have adapted, moving to online marketing and sales, creating delivery services for transportation of their products, and adding value to primary products. New employment opportunities The growing population is projected to triple domestic food demand in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050 and bring about changes in food consumption patterns. The net food imports that are expected to increase to respond to this demand could be offset by increased African production which, in turn, presents opportunities to create decent employment for the youth within the broader agrifood system. Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Sahel and West Africa Club in 2018 forecast the creation of 32 million new jobs in the agrifood sector up to 2025 in West Africa, along with an increase in the share of off-farm jobs. Similar findings exist for East and Southern Africa. In addition, the African Continental Free Trade Area is expected to facilitate regional trade and contribute to the creation of jobs for young people, particularly in the agriculture sector. Technologies hold the potential to transform the future of farming, making it more attractive and profitable, less burdensome, and more closely tied to markets and consumers. In 2018, almost 50% of the African population owned a mobile phone, with young people being the largest group using cell phones and apps. The impacts on young people can be life-changing in areas such as education, extension services, social networking, job search and financial services. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the pace of digitalisation and innovation, but it has also exposed existing digital divides. Capturing the potential benefits of the automation and digital revolution and reducing the digital divide for the youth requires tailored support and new investment in skills development, energy access and connectivity. Resilient, climate-smart systems The transition to a greener economy could yield up to 60 million jobs globally over the next two decades. Agroecology and smallholder-based modes of supplying the world’s food needs are perceived as part of the solution for building sustainable, resilient and inclusive agrifood systems. This trend is supported by increasing concerns among consumers about the links between diet and health, food systems and environmental and social issues. These considerations should be centre stage when prioritising investments, as they will shape the food systems of tomorrow. Aquatic food systems represent a critical social safety net and source of food and nutrition, particularly in periods of successive crop failures and poor agricultural harvests, or other humanitarian emergencies related to climate change or conflicts. The aquatic food sector employs more than 12 million people worldwide. Young people play a prominent role in the fisheries and aquaculture economies on the African continent, but their contributions are not reflected in official statistics, sector policies and development programmes. Finance for investment in food systems In Africa, less than 3% of total commercial bank lending is extended to the agriculture sector. Development agencies, international finance institutions, private foundations and NGOs are meeting only a fraction of this funding gap. In order to successfully implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a combination of public, donor and private funding is essential. The different sources of finance that are emerging in Africa, such as dedicated funds for young agri-entrepreneurs, crowdfunding models and, more recently, impact investing, have the potential to reduce and share the risk return of investing in young agri-entrepreneurs, who are often perceived as presenting greater risk to investors than their older counterparts. Principles The design and implementation of youth-responsive interventions are set within the overarching framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063, with five core principles: Universality; Leaving no one behind; Interconnectedness and indivisibility; Inclusiveness; and Multi-stakeholder partnerships. These principles are in line with relevant youth-related African Union frameworks and strategies. Youth engagement and empowerment Young women and men know their own needs best, and they should have a voice in the design, implementation and evaluation of investment programmes that can affect them. Their capacity to effectively participate is thereby strengthened, and their ideas and proposals are valued and supported. Participatory approaches and meaningful engagement with the youth, notably in governance mechanisms and evaluation processes, can ensure transparency and accountability. The design of investment programmes takes into account the diversity of young people’s needs and aspirations based on such groupings as age, gender, indigenous identity, disability, levels of education and geographic location. Equal opportunities are provided for the youth to access productive resources and services, skills development and decent employment opportunities, start or develop a business, and access social protection, particularly in times of crisis. Investment programmes combine tailored measures to support young women and men in skills development and access to productive assets and services in accordance with market opportunities and territorial potentials, and with regard to sustainable management of ecosystems. Also taken into account are agricultural and rural transformation, the expansion of digitalisation and technologies, new economic models (such as a carbon-light, circular economy) that can create attractive employment and business opportunities for the youth. Adequate investment is directed to build youth capacities to capitalise on those opportunities. Investment programmes provide opportunities for collaboration across sectors and with different stakeholders to aggregate existing data, design joint actions, avoid duplication and enhance the effectiveness of interventions. Lessons learnt and proven approaches from successful initiatives are shared and cross-learning is facilitated at the national level and through South-South and Triangular Co-operation. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.farmersweekly.co.za/opinion/by-invitation/help-the-youth-to-gain-from-agrifood-systems/