Global Entrepreneurship Week |30 November 2020

The debate in full swing

Youths voice out their views on entrepreneurship

On Sunday November 21, 2020, a group of secondary and post-secondary students were offered a platform to voice out their knowledge and views on entrepreneurship as well as the existing and absence of opportunities for the youth in Seychelles.

The principal secretary in the department of Entrepreneurship and Industry (DEI), Angelique Antat, opened the debate titled “Tal Koltar” by welcoming all the participants and expressed her satisfaction with the students’ turnout, especially on a Sunday.

Some participants were as young as 14 years old and they were part of the discussion, which involved extremely experienced and knowledgeable adults from leading businesses and government departments who could simultaneously provide them with answers to their queries besides listening to their propositions.

Before proceeding with the debate, Shella Mohideen, the executive director of The Guy Morel Institute (TGMI) and lead organiser of the debate, explained the reasoning behind the title ‘Tal Koltar’. It was pointed out that the construction of any new road requires different resources and what will determine an acceptable road is the good resources that is used to make the road. In this debate, therefore, students’ voices were regarded as good resource that will determine the type of road they wanted to build for them to use in the future.

To start the debate, students were tasked to describe what an entrepreneur is. Various definitions were expressed including a person with a vision, a person willing to go out of their comfort zone to achieve a goal and someone who is calculated and does their utmost to reach their target no matter what negative comment someone might say to discourage them, among others.

Noteworthy comments made by the students during the debate are listed below.

“An entrepreneur is someone who wakes up every morning with a will to help his community by coming up with a business that can solve a problem in that community. An entrepreneur also faces challenges but that only makes him stronger to keep moving forward in life,” said a young participant.

“I feel that as a child I am misunderstood by my parents and teachers. Whenever I tell them my dreams, they kill my hype by telling me that I dream too big and that I am able to do so much in life. I just hope that my parents and teachers would be more supportive of my choices,” a student expressed. Consequently, a student stressed on the fact that a child should dream big, but it is also important that he or she starts small.

“I believe that Seychelles should have a policy for the youth who would like to venture in entrepreneurship. Having such a policy in place will ensure that the elements of the youth are taken into consideration where business ecosystems are concerned. This is important especially because businesses of the future that will be run by the youth of today will require a different ecosystem,” another student went on to elaborate.

The legal age for a youth to start a business was another topic that was discussed extensively on. A few students stated that they have ideas and the will power to start a business, but the number of difficulties they go through to start a business at the age of 15 is overwhelming given that the legal age to own a business is 18 years old in Seychelles. They went on to add that the process to get their business registered is more complex and access to finance is even more challenging, to name a few. Thus, a solution should be discussed further in order to allow students at the early age of 15 to start a business so they can have a practical feel of the challenges and reward that an entrepreneur faces.

Another student emphasised, “Information is lacking for the youth and this affects the choices that we make further in life. If anything, government should look at how to properly disseminate information to the youth”.

Students also proposed for a few activities to be held, to help frame and inform them of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Seychelles such as, frequent talks by local entrepreneurs and a more detailed Youth Entrepreneurship Policy. Furthermore, a curriculum specific to entrepreneurship in primary, secondary and post-secondary schools should be introduced to give students who are not academically gifted the opportunity to shine and prosper in other areas which they have talents and skills in. Lastly, they believe that regular workshops around entrepreneurial themes should be organised.

A government representative added that, “The youth should not be considered the leaders of tomorrow but rather the leaders of today.” He emphasised that teachers should not be blamed for the advice they receive from other people and thereafter, share with students due to the mere fact that they may not be as well versed in the topic of entrepreneurship. He stated that students should not feel discouraged to venture into what they are passionate about simply because they are academically good and taught to excel in a field that they study at school for instance, to become doctors and lawyers.

“The advice received is not given to you by malicious intent to kill your dream, but rather based on their own experience and knowledge.”

The ‘Tal Koltar’ debate will be aired in full on the Seychelles Broadcasting Cooperation.

This activity was conducted in conjunction with the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) 2020, which is the largest, and most visible one-week campaign affiliated with entrepreneurship. It occurs annually every November and celebrated among more than 170 countries with approximately 10 million people across the globe. This year, Seychelles hosted the GEW and secured multiple participants including the numerous departments and agencies dealing with youths to assist in promoting the values of entrepreneurship in Seychelles.

Contributed by the department of Entrepreneurship and Industry