Create jobs, not seek jobs,” urges Minister of Small Businesses

By Business Writer

Small business development minister Stella-Ndabeni-Abrahams Photo: GCIS

South Africans need to think of themselves as job creators rather than just job seekers said Minister of Small Business Stella Ndabeni Abrahams. Ndabeni-Abrahams was part of a panel discussion on small business during the fourth South African Investment Conference 2022 in Sandton Johannesburg recently that was officially opened by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

In 2018 the president committed to raising R1.2 trillion in five years to boost economic growth and stimulate employment. Before close of the Conference, 95% (R1, 14 trillion) of the R1, 2 trillion, was raised in pledges for investments in the country. By the start of the conference, Ramaphosa said, “we were two-thirds of the way to reaching the R1,2 trillion target. Of the R774 billion committed, around R316 billion has so far been invested. Of the 152 investment pledges, 45 projects have been completed.

“A further 57 are under construction. Fifteen have been put on hold, in several cases due to the impact of the pandemic, he said. The investments are spread across mining, manufacturing, agriculture, the digital economy and more. Ramaphosa yesterday said the investments that have been realized since the first conference had created job opportunities, increased localization, and expanded local value chains. They also brought skills, technology, and know-how into our economy.

Ndabeni-Abrahams urged black-owned SMMEs to move away from confining themselves to state markets and added that more than 80% of national output is driven by the private sector. “We need to focus much more on how small enterprises can be more competitive in these non-state markets. We have the B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice to enable local content and supplier development but collectively have not done enough to ensure the necessary quality and standards required to sustain these markets”.

She said there was a need to cultivate a new entrepreneurial spirit in South Africa as part of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan’s intent to build back better. “The National Development Plan correctly points to SMMEs as the country’s jobs driver. Some 9 million of the 11 million jobs we need to create – now 13 million after COVID – are expected to come from the SMME sector,” said Ndabeni Abrahams.

She said there was a need for clear plans and actions from both the public and private sectors to deepen the impact of the investments received. “We need to make sure that every rand invested in the country creates as many jobs and entrepreneurial activities as possible, and especially for historically under-served communities like black-owned enterprises, women, and youth, said Ndabeni Abrahams.

Developing Master Plan for Small Businesses

Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams believes that the government and the private sector are not investing much in small businesses. “We have not co-ordinated efforts towards small business and have been focusing mainly on what the department does, forgetting that every department in the government has programmes for SMMEs,” she told Vutivi News.

“One thing that people fail to pay attention to is that our department is not a department of small businesses, but (it) is a department of small business development.” During the wide-ranging interview, Ndabeni-Abrahams unpacked what her achievements were, in few months since taking over the Department of Small Business Development, as well as what its plans were for SMMEs in the future.

The minister said that the department was considering developing its own master plan for small businesses. Some master plans, which have been launched in other sectors, have resulted in a more streamlined approach from stakeholders such as the government and businesses. “We will be approaching all government departments that have developed a master plan (to find out if) there is a share for small businesses, and this will help us inform the intervention we must provide, whether it is financial or non-financial,” she said.

“We want to make sure that development moves from ideas to a product-based level, and we will be targeting the manufacturing, agricultural, digital and automotive space, and at the centre of it is the mining space.” Ndabeni Abrahams said this approach was necessary as the National Development Plan not only mandated the government to create jobs but also highlighted that the state was a critical player in growing and transforming the economy.

“As a co-ordinating department, it means that we are not going to be implementing everything on our own, as we need to engage with social partners and big businesses and listen more to small businesses themselves.” Ndabeni-Abrahams also said that through the Township Development Partnership Programme, the department was building a small enterprise supply chain around the maintenance of township infrastructure.

“We are also building the township and rural economy and giving small businesses the opportunity to access programmes available,” she said. On the merger between the Small Enterprise Development Agency, the Small Enterprise Finance Agency and the Corporate Banks Development Agency to help better coordinate and boost support for SMMEs, Ndabeni-Abrahams said a joint operations forum had been established.

However, the merger may not be completed by the end of March as initially expected. “We are also doing a skills audit of the different agencies because we’re not just transferring people into a new agency, but we are trying to address the challenges faced by small businesses in order to respond to them,” the minister said

The forum is chaired by the minister alongside a technical team chaired by the director-general. Other interventions included the Youth Challenge Fund, which was launched in November last year. It is a start-up programme intended to stimulate the establishment and growth of youth-owned businesses.

And later this year, the minister said the department would launch a digital platform “with AI (artificial intelligence) capabilities” so that SMMEs could have access to services and sectors no matter where they were based. Ndabeni-Abrahams reiterated her call for entrepreneurs to apply for grants like the Township Rural Enterprise Programme.

Additional Info: Vutivi Business News