Author: Mundia Mundia
Date: January 28, 2007
Type of article: Letter
Source: The East African Standard http://www.eastandard.net/archives/index.php?mnu=details&id=1143964145&catid=17

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The World Social Forum failed to address the real challenges facing the young people.

Self-funded social entrepreneurship is neither a preserve of the financially endowed persons nor the poor and illiterate and hence unable to access credit facilities.

Entrepreneurship ought to start from our educational system that emphasises on sciences and business studies right from primary school.

This shortfall is explained by a wide economic gap between the rich and the poor. For realistic development policy strategies on social entrepreneurship and business to succeed, the Sh1 billion Youth Development Fund needs further re-evaluation and innovation to ensure sustenance.

Youth should be taught the concept of individual capitalism to encourage them to drive the economy without relying on government bureaucracy.

Sustained development as a result of fiscal knowledge and practice enables the youth to formulate and implement workable and appropriate anti-poverty policies suited to specific needs. This would certainly enhance the quick bottom-up approach as opposed to the burdensome and ever conditional top-down slow development.

Credit providers assume that low-income earners cannot service credit facilities.

Primarily financial services for social entrepreneurship need to be provided together with sound education that touch on markets, products, advertisement, prices and other personal needs.

Mundia Mundia
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