African youth are fast becoming an endangered species as far as employment is concerned. It is even worse carrying the dual baggage of youth and immigrants. A recent study on hair salons in a South African municipality has unveiled the prime sources of funding and the potential uses to which these funds could be channeled. 

In the age of technology, even barbershops are impacted. A recent study has suggested that the widely held assumption that many small businesses especially in the informal-dominated hair salon/ hair dressing sector, have struggled to access funding from public agencies, leading to their incapacity to acquire and deploy new technology for the performance of their daily operations. It also acknowledges an absence of scholarly research exploring the nexus between public funding and technology acquisition. This study recommends judicious acquisition of inexpensive technologies (e.g. social media platforms) and cautionary utilization of complex technologies with targeted policy intervention in order to ensure that the youth are not excluded from the economy (Read more…).