Small businesses at centre of NDP

SMALL business and co-operatives are expected to be central to South Africa's job creation efforts, in line with international trends.

The National Development Plan (NDP) states that about 90% of jobs will be created through small and expanding companies by 2030.

We are convinced that if we are to make an impact on the job creation front, we have to invest in small and medium businesses because they are the key drivers of economic growth and job creation. The best investment we can make is in skills development.

The sad reality is that South Africa has one of the lowest rates of entrepreneurship activities in the world. The Enterprise Development Academy we are launching today must assist us to build a nation of entrepreneurs.

The NDP sets an ambitious aim to treble the size of the economy by 2030, a daunting challenge that will require our collective contribution. Meeting the NDP's growth target of 5.4% for the next 16 years would not only guarantee South Africa's material prosperity, but would be an elevating and inspiring narrative for the country – "an optimistic new story", as the NDP phrases it.

As the NDP makes clear, getting South Africa onto a high-growth trajectory demands that we fundamentally change our game plan and place small businesses and co-operatives at the centre of our war against poverty, inequality and unemployment. Developing a strong and growing SME community is a cornerstone of the NDP's vision.

South Africa is a youthful country. The long-term solution to the nation's unemployment crisis is to create a nation of entrepreneurs and not a nation of job-seekers.

Empowering young people is not an option, but a national imperative.

•Zulu is Minister of Small Business Development