Government throws its weight behind SMMEs

Government is increasingly recognising and supporting the role small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) play in building a sustainable economy. CEO of Business Leadership South Africa, Bonang Mohale, said the National Development Plan highlighted the importance of these businesses for job creation, innovation and competitiveness, with the goal that 90% of new jobs will be created by SMMEs in South Africa by 2030. Mohale suggests that SMMEs should focus on “products and services that are export-orientated for which they can name their price”. CEO of the Johannesburg
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Joan WarburtonMcBride, agreed that SMMEs had “massive potential” to drive economic growth and job creation but that many SMMEs lacked the “know-how”, access to finance and human capital – amongst other obstacles – to take their products to the export market. “It’s why we have such a strong focus on our export incubation programme,” she said, adding that technology could play a “big role” in helping SMMEs trade their products regionally and internationally. And government is throwing its weight behind small business incubation programmes with the Enterprise Development Agency, recently  receiving a R480-million funding windfall to launch a small business innovation fund. The fund will receive R3.2 billion over the next three years to finance small business intermediaries such as fund managers and incubators. The Presidency has  also just launched  the Business Leadership South Africa Connect  online trading platform to create market opportunities for SMMEs through linkages and networking between large firms and small business.