SAB supports small firms
Group helps SMEs participate in the supply chain, writes Alf James
South African Breweries (SAB) is deeply committed to growing local SMEs to enable them to participate in its supply chain, says Bishen Morgan, director procurement capabilities, SAB and AB InBev Africa.
Although the company already has an estimated 20% of its total spend in SA going towards SMEs, it strives to continuously increase SMEs’ participation in its supply chain, Morgan said.
“We make an active attempt to give SMEs an opportunity to participate in our business by offering preferential payment terms for smaller suppliers and through tenders or specific programmes, which strive to identify and engage SMEs with the objective of giving them an opportunity to participate in our supply chain.”
SAB believes it is important for organisations to support SMEs and to help them grow as a way of bettering the communities in which they operate.
“A robust community of SMEs is a recognised channel for sustainable job creation and local economy development. In this light, we believe investing in the development of SMEs is a relevant channel to improve the SA economy at large.”
Morgan says in SAB’s experience some of the most valuable ways that big organisations can mentor and support SMEs are by:
● Gearing for growth — building the capabilities they need to deliver on larger markets, which involves funding and business operating model standardisation and technical skills where applicable;
● Accessing growth or market opportunities — being visible to large organisations and being able to deliver within their business requirements, which involves competitiveness.
“Introducing SMEs to new markets and supporting them in gearing for growth are critical elements in their sustainable development,” says Morgan.
SAB has a range of programmes in place to support enterprise development, he says. The SAB Foundation Trust was set up to benefit historically disadvantaged individuals and communities, primarily through entrepreneurial development.
Through the Social Innovation Awards, the SAB Foundation invests in business ideas that can solve social problems, including energy, water, health, education, housing and food security. The SAB Foundation Tholoana Enterprise Programme is a two-year business support and capital grant programme designed to assist micro and small enterprises to grow and create jobs.
Since the launch of the transaction in 2010, the SAB Foundation Trust has committed more than R151m and has supported 355 enterprises. In the recent SAB Foundation Social Innovation and Disability Empowerment Awards 2018, 20 winners were awarded over R9m.
“The country’s need for job creation underpins our focus on enterprise and entrepreneurship development, which we have committed to use as the basis for creating 10,000 jobs in SA by 2022,” says Morgan.
“We aim to do so through several targeted programmes including the SAB Foundation, SAB KickStart, SAB Thrive and SAB Accelerator, as well as our agriculture programmes focused on emerging farmers.
“This holistic package of programmes is able to support entrepreneurs to develop small businesses from ideation to growth, transforming our supply chain, as well as offering us the opportunity to invest in the potential of entrepreneurs in the broader community.
“Critically, sustainable, deliberate transformation in our procurement processes will enable long-term participation in our supply chain for previously marginalised enterprises.
“Our long-running flagship SAB KickStart programme has been making a difference since 1995, focused on entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 35. The programme has two arms — SAB KickStart Boost and SAB KickStart Ignite,” Morgan says.
The SAB Thrive Fund is an enterprise and supplier development fund established to transform the company’s supplier base. Established in partnership with the Awethu Project, a black private equity fund manager and SMME investment company, its mandate is to invest in and transform existing SAB suppliers to become more representative of our country’s demographics.
SAB Accelerator has as its key purpose to grow SAB’s supply chain to be inclusive of black-owned, especially black women-owned businesses. This incubator facility has been created through funding in terms of public interest commitments agreed by SAB and AB InBev in 2016.
“One of our newest programmes is SAB Lerumo, a four-month programme targeted at black woman-owned companies,” says Morgan. “Agricultural development initiatives have been ongoing at SAB for years and include the Go Farming initiative, which includes the Women in Maize project.
“Women in Maize is a multimillion-rand investment supported by SAB, the Department of Small Business Development, and provincial government departments, which supports the empowerment of womenrun yellow maize farms, was first launched in 2015.
“Participating farmers are assisted with skills improvement, financing, training, access to markets, and most importantly being included in SAB’s supply chain.
“The Go Farming programme provides much-needed input loan funding to emerging farmers across Gauteng, KwaZuluNatal and Mpumalanga.
“An annual average of over R100m has been provided, improving community livelihoods, food security and stimulating local economies.”