Press Release | December 4, 2022
The Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) and its agencies, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda), the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) hosted the Inaugural National Presidential SMME and Co-operatives Awards on the 13th of November which was followed by the Inaugural National SMME and Co-operatives Summit on the 14th – 15th November 2022 at the 22 On Sloane Campus.
The awards served as a platform to launch the Global Entrepreneurship Week and were hosted in partnership with the Ecosystem Development for Small Enterprises (EDSE), the European Union, 22 On Sloane, Huawei, Google, Telkom and 22 On Sloane. The runner ups and winners were invited to attend the SMME Awards and Summit in order to be celebrated and to engage with the various entrepreneurship ecosystem stakeholders. The SMME awards winners won a cash prize of R100 000 and other In-kind prizes. The Inaugural National Presidential SMME and Co-operatives Awards winners are the following:
Township SMME
Eitaradio
Youth-Led SMME
Beauty
Startup Business of The Year
Lotsha Onaka
Homegrown SMME – Product
Borotho Bakery Enterprise
Homegrown SMME – Service
MM Electro Mech Service
Social Enterprise
Memeza Shout
Rural-based SMME
Kevinot Farming
SMMEs Owned By Persons with Disabilities
JT Communications
Fintech
Bizcash
Ecosystem Enabler
Bizcash
Business Development Services Provider
South African All Brothers Product Certification Body
Fintech
Bizcash
Social Enterprise
Memeza Shout
The Inaugural National SMME and Co-operatives Summit aimed at unpacking the recently cabinet approved National Integrated Small Enterprise Development (NISED) Masterplan which identifies short term priorities which the Department need to implement in partnership with stakeholders.
There was a series of panel discussions which focused on the following:
· Township and Rural Economic Development
The panel focused on how the state can be more deliberate in creating market access as well as providing finance and business support
· Access to Finance:
The panel identified the gap in funding informal enterprises and the need to priorities wholesale lending to retail financial intermediaries, micro finance intermediates, and developmental micro-finance intermediaries who have presence and networks in local communities together with specialized capabilities in the markets they serve
· Enterprise Supplier Development,
The panel aimed at discussing how ESD programmes can be impactful when funding incubation and accelerator progammes in partnership with the DSBD portfolio and other ecosystem partners
· Red Tape
The panel discussed the importance of strengthening institutional capacity across government. Solutions identified were creating business indicators to hold the government accountable.
· Co-operatives and Social Economy
The panel discussed the importance of a solidarity economy as its critical to the country’s economy. Aspects such as access to markets and business development are lacking. Therefore, the DSBD needs to strengthen partnership in this regard.
· Africa Agenda
The panel discussed the need to create an accessible knowledge base and strengthen networks to for SA SMMEs and co-ops to access new market opportunities associated with ACFTA
The President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa has committed to have dinner with the SMME awards winners in early 2023 to congratulate and encourage them in the wonderful work that they do. Furthermore, The National SMME and Co-operatives Summit was a vital platform to realise the need for collaboration within the ecosystem and effective monitoring when implementing the suggested plans and policies.
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