Programme Celebrates Graduation of Young Women Entrepreneurs
EYWA (Employability for Youth and Women in South Africa) Programme proudly celebrated the graduation of its latest cohort of young entrepreneurs at a prestigious ceremony held in Johannesburg. This transformative initiative, championed by the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), was made possible through the collaborative efforts of the European Union, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Lulalab, and YES4Youth.
Aligned with the President’s plans for key initiatives that address women and youth unemployment, entrepreneurship, and skills development; The EYWA Programme is a direct response towards the economic recovery of our country.
Designed to equip young South Africans with essential entrepreneurial skills, mentorship, and access to networks, fostering sustainable business growth and employment opportunities. The graduation ceremony marked the culmination of months of intensive training, workshops, and hands-on business development support.
Key Highlights of the Event:
– Inspiring Keynote Speeches from representatives of the European Union, Spanish Chamber, and JCCI, emphasizing the importance of youth empowerment in driving economic growth with relevant inspiration drawn by many from Phike, a successful global entrepreneur who encouraged the graduates through his experiences.
– Success Stories from graduates who shared their businesses, journey, growth and development through the programme.
– Networking Opportunities with partners and business leaders, programme investors, and mentors to further support the graduates’ entrepreneurial ventures.
– All graduates received certificates of programme completion from JCCI CEO Bernadette Zeiler and the Spanish Chamber’s Carmen Ayllon, rewarding the participants for taking responsibility for their future and demonstrating exceptional commitment in seeing the programme through to completion.
The EYWA Programme embodies the spirit of employability for youth and women in South Africa. We are proud to support these young entrepreneurs who will shape the future of South Africa’s economy.”, said Spanish Chamber’s Carmen Ayllon, “I would like to thank the JCCI for the invitation to take part in the graduation ceremony for the employment of youth and women in South Africa; the project is particularly about entrepreneurship, with an objective to improve the economic empowerment and financial inclusion of youth and women from disadvantaged areas and supporting, reskilling and upskilling of systems whilst fostering public and private partnership and closing the relationship gap between private sector demands and education institutions. The Chamber of Spain also has a vocational training committee to collaborate permanently with the Ministry of Education on market needs and new professional skills and competencies required to upskill youth and women”., she concluded.
In her welcome address, JCCI CEO Bernardette Zeiler said “Through partnerships like these, we are bridging gaps and creating opportunities for the next generation of business leaders. This project with the European Union and with the Spanish chambers is a unique flagship project because it speaks to the South African economic environment and to how we can be a solution to the problems and the challenges we are facing with youth unemployment amongst women in our country. this program really the first phase really concentrates on training and giving all the necessary soft skills and the necessary skills to be able to run a business successfully and also to be sustainable and then we go into the second part of the program that is even more exciting because the qualifying SME’s will be offered different sub grants to facilitate their immediate needs for business success or scaling up. It is during this programme, that we have seen the value of Public Private Partnerships as we were able to partner with Lulalab and YES 4Youth, adding more value and expanding excess to this program. We also look forward to entering qualifying SMME’s from this phase of the EYWA programme into all our other export programs”.
The graduates now join an expanding network of EYWA alumni, continuing to receive mentorship and access to resources to scale their businesses. The programme reaffirms its commitment to nurturing a new wave of entrepreneurs who will contribute to job creation and economic resilience.
