This was according to the minister of Small Business Development, Stella NdabeniAbrahams. She was the keynote speaker at Seda’s 13th Annual Stakeholder Forum (ASF) held in Jane Furse in Limpopo on November 22. The ASF is an event at which Seda shares their annual performance.
In the year under review, 2020/21, Seda measured its performance on 23 indicators achieved and exceeded on 12 indicators, this performance reflects an achievement of 52% on set indicators. The event was also attended by the deputy minister of Small Business Development, Sidumo Dlamini; the MEC of Limpopo Economic Development and Tourism (LEDET), Thabo Mokone and other dignitaries representing provincial, local government, private sector and business owners.
Ndabeni-Abrahams highlighted the key programmes focussing on youth entrepreneurship and rural entrepreneurship as a priority. She announced the Youth Challenge Fund which was recently launched. She urged youth-owned businesses and innovators to take advantage of this opportunity to access funding to develop their businesses. Applications for this fund are open.
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Details are available at www.seda.org.za; www.sefa.org.za and www.dsbd.gov.za Mokone’s address focused on the economic development within Limpopo and future partnership with Seda. He emphasised the importance of working together with agencies such as Seda to curb the duplication of efforts. Acting CEO of Seda, Nkosikhona Mbatha, shared highlights of the 2020/21 performance.
A total of 52 139 SMMEs and cooperatives were supported in the 2020- 21 financial year of which 14 657 were based in township and rural areas through the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme (TREP). The ASF also focused on challenges faced by the entrepreneurs.
Seda partners such as Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDA), Sekhukhune Secondary Cooperative and Sekhukhune Chamber of Commerce shared their views on how the challenges of market access can be addressed with other partners like the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) and Standard Bank, focussing on challenges of access to finance.
