Keetmanshoop
While many youth idle at home waiting to be employed by government, some are making efforts to create much-needed employment opportunities for others.
Twenty-eight-year old Nikanor Bonge Shapaka is one such individual. He says working for oneself is much better than working for someone else. The owner of Yabonga Car Wash at Keetmanshoop told New Era that after completing his matric year in 2006, he started making ice, which he sold from home and sometimes moved from school to school to sell.
He then saved enough and decided to open up a carwash in 2013 and he has never looked back since. In fact, he says business could not have been better.
He took this reporter for a brief stroll down the memory lane, saying he started alone, as he could not afford to employ someone and had to rely on people, usually Grade 10 school-leavers, who were sitting idly at home to help out every day. In return he would give them from the little he made at the end of the day.
The business has since grown and he now employs three people on a permanent basis and says even though he is the owner, he feels like an employee too, as he is always at his business and still washes cars himself.
“I’m always here working. You always have to be at your business place. When you are not there, things don’t run as smoothly, so it’s best to be there all the time,” Shapaka says.
He spends about N$3 000 on rent, water and electricity for his business on a monthly basis, in addition to the salaries of his employees. He points out that he is not faced with many challenges, but the main difficulty is finding employees who are committed to their work.
Yabonga Car Wash and other six small businesses received equipment worth N$173 000 from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare at Keetmanshoop on Thursday and Shapaka – who received equipment worth N$20 000
– says it is a timely boost for his business, as it will make things much easier and thus more people can be employed.
“It will increase efficiency. It will make the job easier, as we will be able to wash more cars and faster,” he says.
It does not stop there for Shapaka, who plans to make his carwash a household name in the industry, saying he wants his place of business to be the best. He jokingly says: “I want to see people to come to my carwash from Windhoek, even if it doesn’t make sense.”
He also plans to branch out to the rest of the country. His immediate plans are to set up a carwash at Lüderitz and Oranjemund, as he sees potential there.
His advice to other young people is to follow their dreams and become entrepreneurs. He further believes the youth should keep knocking on government’s doors for assistance and they will be helped. “I believe if you have a dream, the government will meet you halfway,” he says.