Parliament, Wednesday, 23 October 2024 – The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development, Ms Masefako Dikgale, has welcomed the trading incubator programme implemented by the University of the Western Cape’s (UWC) Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in partnership with Sanlam.
This impactful initiative seeks to provide a solution to the challenges often faced by small and medium enterprises (SMMEs) with a lack of access to the market.
Currently, there are three SMMEs on the programme – Silulo Ulutho Technologies, Brown Girl Creations and CorpChem Chemicals. The programme provides them with the opportunity to focus on growing their businesses without worrying about operational challenges such as office space, security and cleaning services.
Ms Dikgale has called upon other private entities to emulate UWC and Sanlam. She said that more incubation programmes are needed for SMMEs to create 30 million jobs by 2030, as projected in the National Development Plan.
Meanwhile, the Department of Small Business Development has set itself a target to establish 250 incubation and digital hubs by 2024, and the committee continues to hold the department accountable in this regard.
ISSUED BY PARLIAMENT COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, MS MASEFAKO DIKGALE.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Mr Justice Molafo
Cell: 081 424 7481
Email: jmolafo@parliament.gov.za
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