As we commemorate Youth Day in June, we are reminded of the impact the youth can have on the future of a country. The impact of today’s young South Africans will be even more pronounced as they become the voting and taxpaying citizens of tomorrow, and the leaders who will chart the course of our economy.
For business owners, too, the youth is immensely important, not only as the taxpayers, voters and leaders of the future, but also as the consumer market of tomorrow and as the workforce of tomorrow. This creates compelling reasons for companies to invest in the youth to ensure their own sustainable future, and to investigate the incentives available to do so.
“If [business is] not listening to the youth, they are not listening to their future competitors, employees, or customers” (Wadia Ait Hamza, head of Global Shapers at the World Economic Forum)
Youth Day commemorates and celebrates the impact the youth of a country can have on the future – the Soweto Uprising on 16 June 1976 changed the course of our history.
The size of its young population is Africa’s huge asset and a strong competitive advantage, according to The African Development Bank: a large youth population, bigger than on any other continent, which is also growing rapidly, while populations in the rest of the world are ageing and contracting.
Current estimates show that the number of youths in Africa will double to 850 million by 2050. They form part of the 1.8 billion global youth who, according to Deloitte, are between the ages of 15 and 29, accounting for more than 25% of the total world population. These are the future taxpayers, voters and leaders, as well as workers and consumers.
The many reasons why these young people are crucial to the future of companies are briefly highlighted below, along with the ways in which your business can benefit directly from initiatives that encourage and incentivise youth employment and training.
The tax base of tomorrow
As Nelson Mandela reminded us: “Our children are the rock on which our future will be built, our greatest asset as a nation. They will be… the creators of our national wealth who care for and protect our people.”
These future taxpayers are crucial in South Africa, with its very narrow tax base. A handful of taxpayers – just 3 million according to available data – paid 97% of total personal income tax collected in the past tax year, funding everything from hospitals and schools to roads and social grants for a population of 56 million! Tax on companies’ profits is only the third largest contributor (after VAT) – and its contribution decreased to just 16.6% by February 2019, compared to nearly 27% a decade ago. In addition, tax revenue growth has slowed, despite the increase in VAT to 15% and the marginal income tax rate to 45%, and despite the introduction of new taxes such as sugar tax and environmental levies.
SARS has also highlighted the high youth unemployment rate in South Africa as “a serious threat to the tax base and the overall integrity of the tax system” in its annual performance plan for 2021/2022. According to Statistics South Africa’s unemployment numbers, the official unemployment rate for young people aged 15–24 years was 63.2% in Q4 of 2020.
It is in the interests of all South Africans to invest in our youth, given that the only alternative to widening our country’s future tax base, is higher taxes on the few individuals and companies who are already carrying the tax burden of an entire nation.
The market of tomorrow
The youth of today will be tomorrow’s consumer market – and in this respect, Africa is the place to be. Changing demographics and improving business environments across Africa are just two of the factors contributing to rising household consumption, which is predicted to reach $2.5 trillion by 2030.
This is according to The Brookings Institution, which also notes that Africa’s emerging economies will take the lead in consumer market growth, with one in five of the world’s consumers living in Africa by the end of the next decade, and more and more of these people falling into the category of affluent or middle-class.
Knowing that today’s youth will be the consumer market of tomorrow creates an opportunity for companies to positively brand and position themselves in the minds of tomorrow’s consumers, even if only in their immediate community.
How can your business connect with the young people who tomorrow will be your customers? Can your business sponsor a sports event or an academic prize at a local school? Perhaps you can provide opportunities for school tours of your facilities?
The workforce of tomorrow
The youth of today are also the workers and employees of tomorrow. The African Development Bank estimates that more than 12 million youth enter the labour market across the continent every year.
There are many benefits to employing young people in both the short-term and the longer-term.
