NYDA voucher a ticket to business success

The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) has a Voucher Programme that provides young entrepreneurs with business development opportunities.

Participants receive one-on-one business development support, between the values of R6 600 and R19 800, from an NYDA-accredited service provider.

“Each registered entity is entitled to a maximum of two vouchers as per their business development phase,” the agency said.

What services do the vouchers buy?

The NYDA said the vouchers are used to purchase business support services from approved service providers, including but not limited to:

• Business plan development;
• Business feasibility;
• Bookkeeping and financial administration;
• Business re-engineering;
• Website development and hosting;
• Business operations manuals;
• Marketing strategy and plan.

Who is eligible for a voucher?

Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 35, be a South African citizen or a permanent resident and must be willing to attend entrepreneurship development training if they do not have an entrepreneurial or business management background and or qualification.

All members of the business entity must be between the ages of 18 to 35 and the business must be 100 percent youth-owned and operate within the borders of South Africa.

How to apply for a voucher

• The applicant must obtain an application form from www.nyda.gov.za or from any NYDA full-service office.
• They must then visit the nearest NYDA branch and submit the completed application form, along with certified copies of the IDs of members and business registration documents (if registered).
• An assessment is conducted to assess the application and determine if the business matches the services being applied for.
• If approved, the applicant needs to select an accredited service provider from the service provider directory (not supplier directory).
• On receipt of the voucher, the selected service provider provides the service and the applicant endorses the voucher on completion of the project.
• The service provider then submits the final product to the NYDA for payment.

“If the application is declined, the applicant is referred to an alternative business support service of the NYDA,” the agency said.

Once the service provider has rendered their service, the applicant has the option to endorse or decline the service provided.   

For more information about this programme, applicants can contact the NYDA on 0800 52 52 52 or email info@nyda.gov.za