SMME Sector can be enhanced by Increasing Number of Incubators – Deputy Minister Gina |
| The country is in dire need of incubators which will incubate start-up businesses. If South Africa wants to succeed in building a thriving Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) sector that will create jobs, this intervention is an essential tool towards that direction. This was said by the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Nomalungelo Gina, who was delivering a keynote address at the third graduation ceremony of the Incubation Governance and Management Development Programme (IGMDP). The ceremony took place at the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), Groenkloof, Pretoria last night.
The 37 candidates who were graduating are the last cohort following the two successful 22 and 26 cohorts of the IGMDP graduations in 2017 and 2018, respectively. According to Gina, the urgency for such an advanced skill in the incubation centres has never been so critical like it is today in South Africa. She said in many parts of the world especially in Europe, SMMEs are the engines of a thriving economies and job creation and for South Africa to catch up with the rest of the world, incubation centres for start-ups businesses must be replicated beyond the current numbers. She added that the centres must be across the country and more incubators must be trained. “We anticipate that in few years, we will have about 145 new additional incubators to the current 58. This means that we need to produce more IGMDP graduates to cope with the growing numbers of the incubators,” said Gina. One of the existing challenge that is facing SMMEs according to Gina is that many companies open on a daily basis, register with the dti through Companies and Intellectual Property Commission but they either remain dormant or start operating for few years, and then collapse. The failure of these individuals behind these companies, she said this might be related to the lack of basic business skills, financial management and lack of resources. Against this background, Gina said the challenge could be addressed by the incubation facilities as they are designed to accelerate a successful development of these new enterprises during their early stages of their life through an array of business support resources and services. “The successful implementation of the programme will no doubt ensure that we will have the necessary capabilities to stimulate effective incubation. We are looking forward to the sustenance of this programme with the University of Pretoria. We want to see an increase in enrolment levels for which the dti must make the resources available,” said Gina. Gina further said that she would want to see a particular biasness towards enrolment in the programme from the economic peripheral provinces, especially those with a strong rural presence. She added that the youth in particular from these provinces should not migrate to cities for such opportunities but must have incubation specialists within their areas to incubate them for diverse businesses interests they want to persuade as part of rural economic development.
Enquiries: |
Share this:
