A think tank of South African entrepreneurs has come together at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) Graduate School of Business in Durban, to unpack the challenges facing South Africa achieving inclusive economic growth.
Challenges of a stagnant GDP, high unemployment and social inequality have been weighed up against the positive gains that have been made since 1994.
Last week ratings agency Standard and Poor downgraded South Africa’s long-term local currency rating to junk status.
Statistics South Africa recorded an unemployment rate of 27.7 % for the third quarter of this year. The bulk of this being young South Africans.
Talking of an inclusive economy means creating a space for these young adults to earn a living. But is this possible in light of the current concerns around political instability, power struggles and corruption at several state institutions?
Doctor Emil Nothnagel is the manager of Af Lead- a company that specialises in collaborations between local government, the private sector, business and civil society. He’s worked at over 100 local municipalities across South Africa.
Nothnagel says it’s not only about government creating a vibrant, healthy economy, but about strategic partnerships that can generate this from grass-root level.
“We’ve got a lot to do there because there’s still a lot of mistrust between the public and private sector. You know I always say charity starts at home, we need to look at ourselves first build our own livelihood and take control of economic steps, small ones but have at least one successful story and build on that. We sometimes want to be too big too quickly. These smaller successes then tend to snowball into bigger ones. Take control of your own economic destiny.”
Debate also revolved around how to bring the historically marginalised communities into the mainstream economy.
Manager for strategy and operations at Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal Neville Matjie says the private sector must play a role in this.
Matjie has proposed a new way of creating entrepreneurs, starting within the safety of already established businesses, saying, “The one thing that needs to be more visible and prominent is the contribution and the ability for communities to grow. Where the bigger companies are then able to identify a few of their great performing managers so instead of keeping them in the company you empower them to run smaller businesses, supporting them to become independent. You’re now allowing those managers to become better entrepreneurs and then they are able to employ staff who will then supply you with product.”
CEO of South Africa’s first privately owned vault operation IBV International Vaults, Ashok Sewnarain says the country is experiencing a leadership crisis that is hampering economic growth and job creation.
“The progress is indeed slow but it is also very challenging. I believe that SA is a land of opportunities and we as a nation need to be united on all fronts. Indeed we have a leadership crisis, but I believe there’s always light at the end of the tunnel and we are all intelligent enough to understand that there is a crisis and we need to find quick, effective solutions. We are a country of very good leaders and I believe our history reflects that.”
