Driving Economic Inclusion and Addressing Youth Unemployment through the IRM Hubs

The Installation, Repair and Maintenance (IRM) Initiative seeks to expand employment and career progression opportunities for young people across the industrial economy. Addressing the youth unemployment crisis in South Africa requires a collaborative approach that extends beyond labour absorption in the formal sector. The IRM Initiative acknowledges that supporting growth-oriented entrepreneurial activity is a key component for ensuring training and employment opportunities for young people within their local communities.

In support of the government’s efforts to revitalise the South African economy, following the negative effects of Covid-19, the IRM Initiative seeks to strengthen Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs), particularly those based in township communities, thus enabling SMEs to grow and prosper, while broadening the base for on-the-job training and employment creation.

The National Business Initiative (NBI) has launched two IRM hubs in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal to uncover entrepreneurial potential amongst township artisans and create conditions for their potential to be realised, through increased market access with the formal sector, as well as enterprise and skills development. These hubs have supported 27 growth orientated IRM Enterprises over the past year and we will be scaling up these numbers over the next decade. Further hubs will be established in strategic locations across the country.

Join us on Wednesday, 17 August 2022, as the NBI hosts an industry event showcasing the IRM hubs. The event will serve as a platform to demonstrate the value of the hubs in bringing township enterprises closer to formal sector supply and value chains, and also identify the potential for strategic partnerships, which can benefit corporates in their contribution to more inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Please click here to register for this Zoom event.