SOCIAL BUSINESSES AS A TOOL AND APPROACH FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Abstract

Demographic transitions in sub-Saharan Africa, characterised by a youth bulge, are contextually enabling for social work professionals to investigate new methodologies of youth development. Social business is a suggested innovation of youth development with the capacity to strengthen existing social work strategies and interventions. This paper highlights the discourse on social businesses as viable development tools and approaches capable of impacting positively on youth development. Furthermore, the highlighted connections between social businesses and social work professionals may galvanise the profession to become involved in social businesses. The involvement of social work may expand the scope of community development strategies critical to tapping into the social capacities of youth. We argue that social businesses are an asset based approach representing a human face that social work can broker among communities, industry and policy makers, harnessing humanised free market capitalism to foster inclusion and expansion of livelihood options for young people.