Great news for black business
GAUTENG premier David Makhura recently delivered his state of the province address.
It was good to hear that black entrepreneurs are part of his plans for radical change for the province.
South Africa’s unemployment rate is a ticking time bomb.
Statistics SA released employment figures last year and the figures were disappointing, with 27.1% of the population without a job, the highest in 13 years.
Makhura said R40-billion of government’s R46-billion procurement budget for mediumterm expenditure will be available to empower black youth and women entrepreneurs, especially the ones in the townships.
It is such great news that we look forward to knowing that something is being done. With a lot of challenges facing young, aspiring entrepreneurs, a lack of funding being one of them, government’ s intervention couldn’t have come at a better time.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are productive drivers of inclusive economic growth and development in South Africa.
According to the National Development Plan (NDP), SMEs are expected to provide a staggering 90% of new jobs by 2030.
If we, as a country, wish to realise part of the NDP Vision 2030, which is “to reduce unemployment by 6% in 2030”, it would be a good idea to think of SMEs as one of the key levers.