Cape Town Launches the #YouthStart Entrepreneurial Challenge

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youthstart entrepreneurial challenge Cape Town

The City of Cape Town’s Social Development and Early Childhood Development Department has launched the annual #YouthStart Entrepreneurial Challenge. The initiative aims to stimulate small businesses and/or ideas through skills development and innovation, contributing to job creation.

New Challenge Categories Encourage Innovation

For the first time, the challenge is splitting the existing youth businesses from the business ideas. This year’s business categories include agriculture/farming, tourism, finance and business services, manufacturing, and Information Technology (IT).

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Overwhelming Response from Young Entrepreneurs

More than 160 young entrepreneurs aged 18-35 applied for participation in the challenge. The City hopes to see new businesses in the community that will help stimulate job creation. The Deputy Mayor, Alderman Eddie Andrews, believes that entrepreneurship is key to responding to the triple threat of poverty, unemployment, and inequality.

Top Entries Vie for Major Prizes

One hundred entries out of the 162 applications were selected for the challenge. Participants will attend training sessions and pitch to an adjudication panel made up of the competition’s various partners. The top scorers will progress to the next round, until only a handful of individuals are left to vie for the major prizes.

Supporting Entrepreneurship and Job Creation

The top three in the existing businesses category and the top five business ideas are left to vie for the ultimate prizes. Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Patricia van der Ross, is pleased with the overwhelming interest and number of qualifying participants for this year’s challenge. She stated that the City is committed to supporting entrepreneurship and job creation.

Learn More about #YouthStartCT

For more information on the #YouthStartCT program, visit www.capetown.gov.za/# YouthStart.

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Hannah Kriel is a Cape Town-born journalist who chronicles the city’s evolving food scene—from Bo-Kaap spice routes to Constantia vineyards—for local and international outlets. When she’s not interviewing chefs or tracking the harvest on her grandparents’ Stellenbosch farm, you’ll find her surfing the Atlantic breaks she first rode as a schoolgirl.

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