Tag: Small and Medium Enterprise (SME)

There is a problem with Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) programmes in South Africa. We are finding out the nature of the problem and what can do about it. South Africa has a strong financial and capacity development landscape for Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs).

In today’s digital age, data-driven insights have become the cornerstone of business success. These insights help businesses thrive. Understanding customer needs provides a greater competitive edge. Additionally, analysing financial data helps businesses plot their growth. This allows them to fulfill their full potential. The benefits of data in the business world are endless.

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition published draft vertical restraint regulations for comment along with a memorandum to provide context in respect of the draft regulations. These regulations relate to the prohibition on restrictive vertical practices as set out in section 5 of the Competition Act, 89 of 1998 and attempt to provide a framework on how the Competition Commission should approach practices which are potentially prohibited in terms of section 5 of the Act.

Internationally, 75% of startups consider partnerships with corporates critically important to their success, with a further 63% anticipating that these relationships will gain even greater importance in the future. In South Africa, however, corporates’ support for entrepreneurs is lacking and must be urgently remedied by the country’s businesses.

Open banking and open finance are buzzwords in the financial sector that have been sparking curiosity. They are frameworks that allow authorised third-party providers (companies or services that offer financial products/services to consumers) to access financial data from banks and other institutions via secure application programming interfaces (APIs).

According to the Facts and Figures 2023 report, just 37% of Africa’s population uses the internet, representing a digital divide for hundreds of millions of people. Only a tiny fraction of the continent’s people have access to a high-speed broadband connection at their homes.

Small and Medium Enterprises are the cornerstone of the global economy. The 2024 United Nations General Assembly designated June 27 as "Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) Day" to raise awareness of their contributions toward achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - specifically SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) and SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure).

South African women are closing the gender gap in entrepreneurial activity. Driven by many factors ranging from perceived opportunity to job scarcity, they are starting businesses which in turn creates employment opportunities for others, with the country boasting one of the highest proportion of women-led companies employing 20 or more people globally.

Skills development in the form of learnerships is an essential element of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) scorecard, accounting for a significant portion of the score for large enterprises in particular. However, not all businesses have the capacity, availability, or ability to take on sufficient learners to meet their obligations.

Having an established and well-communicated company purpose in place can be a powerful driver of positive change. This statement holds true in terms of a company’s broader social impact, but there is also a strong business case to be made for purpose-driven culture and as its value as a driver of employee engagement.