A two-day business development workshop for SMMEs held in Soweto recently under the auspices of the Department of Economic Development, Trade and Industry (the dti), together with Proudly South African and the Soweto Business Executive Chamber (SOBEC) has met with an overwhelmingly positive response from local entrepreneurs and small enterprises.

The event, which was officially opened by Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Ms. Gwen Nkabinde-Mahlangu, attracted more than 500 delegates over the two days. It was motivated by a growing need for more information about government’s offerings to small businesses and entrepreneurs and could possibly be extended to other provinces in the future.

An analysis of the attendees indicated that about 80% already had established small businesses; 18% were entrepreneurs, while the remaining 2% attended because they were interested in starting a business. “This breakdown confirms that small businesses have a great need to learn more about and unlock the variety of offerings and assistance that government has put at their disposal. Assisting them to access these resources is critical since it will ensure that they can move from the second economy to become active participants in SA’s formal economy”, says Proudly SA’s Marketing and Communications Executive, Dalene du Preez.

Government agencies and supporting organisations which had participated in the Workshop included, amongst others,  the NEF (National Empowerment Fund); CIPRO; SAMAF; KHULA; The Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA); the BEE unit and Co-ops unit of the dti; The Enterprise Organisation (TEO), as well as the Creative Hearts organisation.