The eThekwini Municipality has partnered with various stakeholders to develop a concept where the youth can be engaged to provide solutions to challenges faced by the City.

The Innovation Week Challenge will provide youth with various platforms to come up with innovative ways to address socio-economic challenges and ensure better service delivery.

In this exercise the youth will be provided with an opportunity to engage with IBM’s computer programmers using the latest IBM technology to address some challenges faced by the City.

They will be expected to visit different areas to identify challenges facing communities in order to create business solutions to address social ills.

This in turn will assist the youth to come up with income generating activities that will boost the economy of eThekwini.

Mayor James Nxumalo said the City is faced with a high level of unemployment, and that this affects young people the most.

Encouraging creativity

Nxumalo said the City has adopted the concept of innovation as one of the ways in which it can encourage creativity among youngsters to play a bigger role in breaking the cycle of poverty, inequality and joblessness.

“The Municipality welcomes programmes of this nature that seek to unleash the entrepreneurial potential of young people. Innovation and entrepreneurship is crucial for radical transformation of our economy.

“Communities at different levels should be encouraged to harness and channel their energies towards finding solutions that would be an answer to most of the challenges and problems that they face,” he added

Participants with feasible ideas will be given an opportunity to enter the Prize Challenge where they will qualify for funding.

Interested youth are encouraged to participate in this exciting challenge. Applications close on 10 April 2015.

After all applications have been received the date of the Innovation Youth Challenge will be announced.