BUSINESS ‘Entrepreneurs hold key to growth’

Ramaphosa challenges small business to play job creation role

WITH the economy remaining sluggish, the government believes entrepreneurs can help contribute to job creation and economic growth.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said yesterday small business owners were the much needed engine to help boost growth through innovation and the search for opportunities that drive economic activity.

“We look to you to collabor- ate even beyond our borders for opportunities that will employ our people. The world would not be what it is today if it was not for entrepreneurs. Put aside big businesses and focus on the small and medium business people who really drive innovation creativity and doing things and processes and products,” said Ramaphosa.

He was addressing hundreds of entrepreneurs at the opening of the Global Entrepreneurship Week at the Industrial Development Corporation in Johannesburg.

Ramaphosa said he was concerned about the results of the global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report which placed South Africa 55th for its entrepreneurial environment.

The report highlighted the country’s lack of sufficient support for small businesses and low levels of entrepreneurial activity and internship opportunities as compared to other sub-Saharan countries.

Another worry was that many small businesses created by black people closed down over time.

“The report notes that South African entrepreneurs also forecast their inability to create employment for others besides themselves.

“We need to create businesses that are not just going to be for the employment of the entrepreneur themselves. It must be a business that will create more jobs,” said Ramaphosa.

He said the government was aware of the challenges facing small businesses, including bureaucracy, lack of education and certain social norms and was working on tackling these problems.

Small Business Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu conceded that small businesses faced many challenges and her department needed to do more to assist.

She expressed concern that big businesses had not opened distribution centres in townships.

She said there was an “eco- nomic apartheid” that locked out many young businesses from accessing assistance from larger companies.

The calls by Ramaphosa and Zulu for big business to assist entrepreneurs were loudly applauded by the delegates.

Ramaphosa called on big business to form partnerships with entrepreneurs to create an inclusive economy and provide young people with sorely needed work experience.

The Global Entrepreneurship Week begins on Monday.

Cyril Ramaphosa