The Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), an agency of the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has partnered with Samsung to develop local start-up businesses.
The programme is run in South Africa, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia, to support local entrepreneurs to build their own businesses and growth for sustainable impact in society.
In South Africa, 20 start-ups were selected to participate in a local boot camp held in Cape Town last week. On the last day there was a pitching exercise – a programme that is designed to give these businesses access to expert guidance and input on how to polish their business pitches.
This is an opportunity to have their ideas brainstormed and tested to learn valuable lessons and tools that will create a well-rounded, knowledgeable, investor-ready pitch.
The winning participant walked home with a whopping R45 000 while number two and three took R30 000 and R15 000 respectively.
The rest of the participants each received intensive mentorship and business development support over a period of 12 months.
Luvuyo Rani, the founder of Silulo Ulutho Technologies was a guest speaker at the opening of the programme where he called on government to revitilise township economies through entrepreneurship support.
“By a township economy we refer to all township activities by community-based enterprises aimed at meeting the needs of the township residents. They range from street vending, taverns, minibuses, spaza shops, burial societies, stokvels, hair salons, plumbing, panel-beating, home-based care, including basic things like cooking, shopping, child-minding, take care of the sick and the aged,” Mr Rani said.
He bemoaned the fact that more young people are ending up in jail.
“Young people are exposed to criminal activities at an early age. They indulge in drugs, alcohol and gangsterism. They come from dysfunctional families and communities where there are hardly any role models to look up to. Crime presents an attractive image to them because they do not have role models. We need to produce more entrepreneurs who will be leading ambassadors and role models to promote township entrepreneurship.”
Mr Rani called on people to mobilise township buying power to improve incomes and investment in productive activities. He said the township economy must be built on the strength of township communities. “Our collective buying power runs into billions of rand and includes, for example, money in burial societies, stokvels, workers’ funds (such as pensions) and social grants,” he said.