Meet the young maths whiz from Jozi helping shape the future #WEF20

The youth and how they believe the present generation is messing up their future has dominated the past year and at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland they were again given ample opportunity to tell delegates what they wanted for the future. Spearheading this movement is Greta Thunberg, a teenager from Sweden who has received a fair amount of flack for standing up for what she believes in. President Donald Trump’s treasury secretary has followed his leader in taking a swipe at Thunberg suggesting the climate activist should study economics at university before she offers advice on how to tackle global warming. Somebody who has studied maths at university in South Africa is clearly able to offer his input on how teenage unemployment in our country should be tackled. Sai Govender, from Johannesburg, has been chosen by the WEF as a Global Shaper. He spoke to Biznews about his experience at Davos. – Linda van Tilburg

This coverage of the global conversation on change is brought to you by BrightRock the first ever needs matched life insurance that changes as your life changes. I’ve run into Sai Govender, he’s called a Global Shaper linked to the World Economic Forum. What exactly is a Global Shaper?

The Global Shapers community is a network of young inspiring people across the world who work on solving some of the world’s toughest problems. There are almost 10,000 Global Shapers across the world, across 150 countries and more than 420 hubs. I’m part of the Johannesburg hub which has around 25 members at present.

You are a maths whiz?

Yes, this and my passion for education is what made me stand out.

Is this your First World Economic Forum meeting?

Yes. I am excited to be here and representing the youth voice of South Africa but I am also nervous as it’s a big task but I know with the support back home that I can do it.

So what do you tell people, what needs to be done in South Africa.

In South Africa we are facing the huge youth unemployment burden. There are almost 7 million youths that are out of work. This is very sad because these youth are wasting their life. I try to advocate for employment opportunities for them as well as education, so that they would be better placed to obtain employment opportunities

President Ramophosa is not here, some delegates feel South Africa is not being heard, do you feel this?

From a youth perspective, myself and my fellow delegates are making it our priority to be heard and to make sure that we have a seat at the table.

Have you been included in some of the panel discussions?

Yes, I was included in the “Generation of Risk of Youth” where we discussed some of the challenges that the youth are facing across the world. The challenges range from unemployment to climate change to gender equality.

The youth is a strong focus at the moment in the world and at the World Economic Forum with Tom Burge. Did that give you the sense that there’s a shift in that direction.

Yes. More youth are rising up to the challenge of solving the world’s biggest problems as many leaders are not taking on the challenge. The future is ours and if we don’t contribute towards a better world now we’re not sure what will be left in the years to come.

What is this generation is all about.

I’m a millennial, we know a lot about technology because we grew up with computers with cellphones. Social media has helped us to reach large audiences, but it comes with other challenges such as cyberbullying and we have to be alert when using these platforms and what one wants to portray.

Your generation is not so concerned about privacy as for example Baby Boomers?

We are less afraid to be outspoken because we want to portray what we feel and what we are passionate about. So we do at times obviously want privacy as well but more than that I think we just want to be heard.

This could come back to bite you. You could post something which could be used against you.

It is something that we need to be aware of. It’s challenging. On one hand you want to be authentic however this has consequences. I guess being wary of how you portray yourself.

One of the big issues in South Africa at the moment is the lack of growth and the fact that the business community feels that structural reform is too slow. Do you have any thoughts on that.

South Africa has a youth unemployment crisis. A large reason for this is because of the effects of apartheid that we still feel today. So even though it’s almost 26 years since we’ve got democracy we still face a lot of challenges. We have come a long way since then. We are a much more unified nation. People collaborate more, however there’s still a lot more that needs to be done.

Is Greta Thunberg one the Global Shapers?

No, Greta Thunberg is a youth activist. She is a champion for the climate. But we are very similar in the sense that we are also youth champions for what we believe in. So whether it be education, technology, or fashion we all make sure that our voice is heard and that we are listened to.

Where do you want to go on from here.

While at Davos to make connections with people whom I wouldn’t usually get to meet. To make meaningful relationships, and take home to solve some of the problems. For me specifically it’s getting engagement from business and government leaders to help us with some of the projects that we are working on and obviously amplifying scale.

And was your experience coming to the snow in Davos.

Its a fascinating place. We don’t really experience this cold in South Africa. So for me it was quite a new feeling but at the same time exciting to experience a new environment. And I guess sharing it with my fellowship shapers is always quite exciting.

Thank you so much Sai for speaking to us.

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