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The ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka is one of the worst since independence. The island nation plunged into chaos last March, with people blaming “the government’s mismanagement of the economy” for the crisis. Protests forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country in July, three months after his cabinet resigned in April. Then on July 20, parliament elected Ranil Wickremesinghe as president.
Even if the country is currently reeling from the effects of the financial crisis, this may be the right time for the government to meet the challenge by implementing long-awaited reforms. , governments must consider macro-level intervention and adopt powerful policy instruments that have never been tried before.
Macroeconomic measures could help mitigate the current financial crisis, but to have a positive long-term impact on the economy and stimulate growth, the country needs to foster and accelerate grassroots entrepreneurship. you have to walk.
Recognizing that Sri Lanka’s economy is primarily driven by small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which account for over half of the country’s GDP, is essential to enable sustained improvement. The industry also contributes significantly to 45% of all jobs and has the potential to put the country back together. However, only 25% of these businesses are owned by women, and her female-led MSMEs often struggle to transition out of the informal sector. Vulnerable groups like Tamil youth who are struggling to find jobs and sustain themselves should not only be encouraged but empowered to create jobs rather than job seekers.
Entrepreneurship was at the heart of humanitarian organizations’ initiatives to rebuild lives after the 2004 tsunami. Youth entrepreneurship programs in the 1990s have helped many young people establish businesses in the past with the help of revolving loans and expert mentoring. The program helped young entrepreneurs identify new clients, provide advice and training on how to start a business, as well as learn how to target them with the right products.
Lessons learned in the years after the tsunami can be used to build a robust small entrepreneurship program to address the current crisis plaguing Sri Lanka. Local entrepreneurs benefit from a systematic, step-by-step approach to education and training that not only helps develop an entrepreneurial spirit and a set of skills, but also guides them towards long-term business growth. can be obtained.
Emerging rural entrepreneurs may be motivated to develop their ideas through interactions with others and platforms such as business competitions, entrepreneur hackathons and incubator facilities. The Yarl Geek Challenge is a great example of how contests and mentoring combine to create a viable and successful business. These competitions not only provide support, but also ignite the entrepreneurial spirit of locals and remove fear of failure.
Volunteer mentors can be enlisted to help young people start micro-enterprises, ancillary units, and service businesses. These mentors may be experienced business owners, corporate executives, banking and finance professionals, or university lecturers. One of the key interventions that can help rural entrepreneurs develop the necessary skill sets is how to approach business ideas, how to hire and retain resources to run a company, and how to access banks. Step-by-step counseling of the local community on how tofor loans, etc.
Even if a business owner has a good idea, it can be difficult to convince a bank to give them the credit they want. Local entrepreneurs can pitch their ideas to banks and investors so they can finance their businesses with the help of customized training. Such training goes beyond just taking a traditional course to get certified. Instead, participants gain a thorough understanding of how the industry works, and local entrepreneurs receive hands-on guidance from duly accredited mentors.
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Establishing and/or encouraging a core group of mentors to assist aspiring business owners in their transition from start-ups to successful companies is one of the most important things governments can do. how to approach, how to hire and retain resources to run the company, how to access banks for loans,
are among the key interventions that help rural entrepreneurs acquire the necessary skill sets.
For example, a recently widowed young Aurangabad woman was helped to develop her business skills and was able to set up and run a sportswear business. Her support was provided mentoring another young man from Pune who studied fine arts, worked as her graphic designer and set up a printing business for her safety helmet decals.
The biggest obstacle for countries to successfully develop networks of micro-enterprises run by women and young people is the lack of adequate funding. Even if a business owner has a solid idea, it can be difficult to convince a bank to give them the credit they need. The government can help this by easing restrictions on starting business relationships with Indian companies.
Agriculture and aquaculture are two good business prospects for a country like Sri Lanka. Governments should encourage agriculture-based businesses by strengthening supply chains, improving financial access, providing training and facilitating exports of Sri Lankan agricultural products.
It is time to restructure and implement a Women and Youth Entrepreneurship Development Program to revitalize Sri Lanka’s grassroots entrepreneurial ecosystem. This, if approved and carried out in the right spirit, will see intelligent and bright young people become wealth builders and employment providers, rather than unemployed job seekers lining up for government subsidies. We can help. Time is everything!
Lakshmi Venkataraman Venkatesan Founding and Managing Director of Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust
When
G. ‘Anand’ Professor Anandalingam Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Management Science, University of Maryland
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