Description
Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF) was established by the South African government and has been operational since January 2001 and the BCSVP implemented in response to the findings commissioned by UYF in 2002. The BCSVP is a flagship business development support service aimed at assisting young entrepreneurs to access quality business consultancy thereby enhancing their participation in the mainstream of the economy. The overall BCS objective is to enable potential and existing entrepreneurs to acquire innovative business development through the use of the voucher for business creation, improvement and sustainability. The BCS is the first electronically based business support aimed at providing technical support to Small Micro and
Medium Enterprises (SMME) in South Africa and is designed to assist young entrepreneurs to access business development interventions. These interventions are largely provided on a one-tone basis and range in value from R1, 500 to R20, 000 where clients contribute a flat rate of R 200 for the required service and can access up to four vouchers.
The aim of the BCS is thus to link potential SMME clients to business development Service Providers in the establishment and growth of their businesses. The BCS voucher empowers young entrepreneurs to develop by providing them with a means to purchase technical assistance and Umsobomvu Youth Fund IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND PROGRAMME EVALUATION OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES VOUCHER PROGRAMME PREPARED BY ECIAFRICA CONSULTING (PTY) LTD, 6 managerial support that they need for the creation of sustainable and competitive youth owned enterprises that are active in the following growth-oriented sectors of the South African economy:
• Tourism
• Information, Communication and Technology
• Manufacturing
• Construction
• Agro-processing.
UYF commissioned ECIAfrica Consulting (Pty) Ltd to conduct a full programme review and assessment of the BCS voucher programme and to then make recommendations for the future implementation of the programme. The evaluation was undertaken at four levels with 10 allocating agents, 80 Service Providers, 417 Young Entrepreneurs and UYF staff working on the programme.
The programme evaluation involved a literature and documentation review and analysis of programme related databases.
