President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on private sector corporates to help government in growing and developing Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) through capital support, skills development and access to markets.
Ramaphosa was addressing entrepreneurs and cooperatives during an SMME focused webinar hosted by the Department of Small Business Development. Ramaphosa encouraged SMMEs to take advantage of the Africa Free Trade Agreement to access new markets on the continent.
“One of the key elements of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan is localisation, and we expect SMMEs and co-operatives to play a central role in driving localisation. Some work has already been done by this department to introduce SMMEs and co-operatives to wholesalers and retailers. We really need our corporates to come on board for us to build strong local capabilities,” he said.
The webinar’s theme was “Open Engagement with a View to Rebuild an Even Stronger Economy”:
In an online survey conducted by Ipsos South Africa in September 2020, 55% of SMME business owners stated that they experienced greater uncertainty around the sustainability of their businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The impact of the pandemic and subsequent lockdown was found to have been significant on business performance, with 63% of SMME’s stating that they are performing “Not Well” or “Not Very Well” after lockdown, while larger enterprises are seemingly more resilient, with a third (35%) stating that they are still performing “Well” or “Very Well” after lockdown.
Entrepreneur Itumeleng Sedumedi speaks about COVID-19’s impact on SMMEs:
There were, however, some “green shoots”, and since the gradual lifting of lockdown restrictions almost half (49%) of business owners state that they have managed to bring in new orders or new business, but that it is much slower than what it used to be before the pandemic.
Government has also approved payment worth R513 million through the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) to assist small businesses whose finances have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Discussion on how SMMEs can apply for financial relief during lockdown:
