African Management Services Company (AMSCO) participated at the recently held 3rd Annual International Conference on Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development at the University of Johannesburg in Soweto, South Africa that saw more than 800 entrepreneurs under the same roof.
Running under theme ‘Growing Industries in townships and under-developed neighbourhoods’, the conference provided a platform where small township businesses were advised on how to get incorporated into value chains mentioned in South Africa’s New Growth Path and the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP2) to heighten economic growth.
Speaking at the conference, the keynote speaker and President of South Africa, H.E. Jacob Zuma stated that all successful economies have invested strongly on small businesses and cooperatives. He said SMEs are the engine of growth and development requiring special attention, particularly on the three key pillars of finance, business development and procurement, and improved regulatory environment. The President emphasized the need to boost small businesses.
Senior Advisor on competitiveness and Private Sector Development for UNDP in Mexico, Ricardo Bisso, shared lessons learnt on the industrialization of marginal areas in Mexico that South Africa and indeed Africa as a whole could emulate for better development.
AMSCO’s Development Programme Manager, Fatuma Abdullah echoed the sentiments expressed by both speakers, highlighting AMSCO’s lessons learnt across Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Sustainability is key and SMEs need to be capacitated through targeted training on management and standards, access to finance, access to markets and information and the need for micro and small businesses to form clusters and/or cooperatives to benefit from value chain integration” She said.
Ms Abdullah emphasized that it is critical for lending institutions to enhance procedures and requirements to accommodate micro entrepreneurs for sustainable growth.
The conference was attended by representatives of the Government of South Africa, Business representatives from all provinces, and state enterprises.
|
