Contemporary Research Analysis Journal

Youth unemployment remains a critical challenge in Namibia, particularly in low-income urban areas like Katutura. The City of Windhoek established the Bokamoso Incubation Hub as a response to support entrepreneurship development as means of fostering youth-led enterprises. The study evaluated the specific impact of youth-led innovative entreprises by assessing their ability of job creation and examined the experiences of the youth entrepreneurs at Bokamoso as well as capturing their challenges in their entrepreneurial journey. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was employed. First, quantitative data were collected through a structured survey from 15 incubated entreprenuers to measure the relationship between types of business support (funding,mentorship,  training, marketing skills) and the number of jobs created. A comporative analysis revealed that training & mentorship through government interventions like equipmnet scheme, the NTA and youth grants (Youth Development Fund)  were the strongest significant predictors of employment creating. Subsequently, qualitative data from 15 in-depth interviews and 2 focus group discussions were analyzed using thematic anaklysis  to explain these findings not well addressed by the qiantitative phase. The qualitative data revealed that process innovation training and skills to operate business (Customer care, financial management,digital  software development) enhanced operational efficiency, for two joinery shops that have managed to increase the staff compliment from 2 to 8 allowing these  business to create jobs. Printing and design due to machinery invovled required more staff compared to agro-processing   The findings srevealed that incubation programs should be rxtended to other incubation hubs run and managed by City of Windhoek as  well as extending such to youth entrepreneurship facilities in order to maximize their impact on job creation.The study concludes that the Bokamoso Hub’s greatest impact on youth unemployment is achieved not merely by supporting novel ideas, but by strategically fostering a culture of entrepenurial mindset among the youth and supprot mechanism (funding, mentorship & start-up development). 

Youth Unemployment, Innovation, Mixed-Methods Research, Job Creation, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Incubation

1. Lee, N., & Lings, I. (2012). Doing Business Resesrch: A Guide to Theory and Practices. London: Sage Publishers. 
2. Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill. (2012). Research Methodes for Business Studies. London: Pearson Educational Ltd. 
3. William, N. (2011). Research Methods: The Basics. Canada: Routledge. 
4. Kathori, C. R. (2004). Research Methods: Methods and Techniques. New Delhi: New Age International Publishers. 
5. Clough, P., & Nutbrown, C. (2007). A Student Guide to Methodology. London: Sage Publishers. 
6. Sirakaya, Y., & ASlanlar, I. (2024, October 10). The Power of Innovation: Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, Conponents, Research and Start-Up Approaches and the Development Process if Entrepreburship Ecosystem Devel0opment Process of the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem. International Journal os Social Science and Human Science, 0871-8083. 
7. Hernadez, C. P., & Thavapalan, P. (2020). The Role of Youth Entreprenurship in addressing Unemployment: A case study of informal Markets in India. African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 35-49. 
8. Audretsch, D. B., Falck, S., & Lederer. (2011). Handbook of Research on Innovation and Entreprenurship. Northampton: Edward Elgar. 
9. Government of Namibia. (2014). The National Development Plan 5. Windhoek: Government Press. 
10. Central Statistics Agency. (2012). National Census Report. Windhoek: John Meinert. 
11. MHETI. (2016). Mapping Innovation and VET landscape for Namibia. Windhoek: Goernment Printers. 
12. UNDP. (2020). Global Innovation Accelerator. washington: UNDP. 
13. Google for Startup Accelerator Africa. (2020). From Google: www.google.com 
14. Miller, M. (2019). The Role of SMEin Reducing Youth Unemployment in Namibia: A case study for Soweto Market. African Journal of Business and Economic Studies, 4757. 
15. Glaister, K., & Buckley, P. (2017). The Impact of Entrepreneurship of Employment Creation on Emerging Economies: Evidence fom Namibia. International journal of Entrepreneurial behavior & Research, 1004-1023. 
16. World Bank. (2021). The Role Labour Market in Namibia: Challenges and Opportunities for Youth Employment. Washington: World Bank. 
17. ILO. (2021). Global Employment Trends for the Youth: Navigation the Crisis. Geneva: International Labour Organization. 
18. Venter, R., Urban, B., Bedar, L., Oosthuizen, Reddy, C., & Venter, E. (2015). Entrepreneurship: Theory in Practice. Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa. 
19. Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches. New York: McGrawHill. 
20. Fumbo, C., & Tjahjono, B. (2018). Navigating the Infromal: Youth Entreprenurship in Katutur, Namibia. Journal of African Business, 456-473. 
21. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor(GEM). (2020). 2021/2020 Global Report: Opportunity amid Disruption. London: GEM Consortium. 
22. Isenberg, D. J. (2011). The Entrepreneruship Ecosystem Strategy as a New Paradigm for Economic Policy: Principles for Cultivating Entrepreneurship. Berlin: Institute of International and European Acairs. 
23. Namibia Statistic Agency. (2022). Namibia Labour Force Survey 2022. Windhoek: NSI. 
24. World Bank. (2020). Doing Business 2020: Comparing Business Regulation in 190 Economies. Washington. DC: The World Bank. 
25. Msomi, M. S., & Olarewaju, O. L. (2021). The Sustainability of Small and MediumE Enterprises in the post-incubation period in South Africa. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 1-20. 
26. Creswell, J., & Planco, C. (2017). Designing and Conducting mixed method research. London: Sage Publications.