Question NW1966 to the Minister of Small Business Development
10 August 2017 - NW1966
Chance, Mr R to ask the Minister of Small Business Development
What role does a certain person (name and details furnished) play as a South African representative of Startup Nations, a programme run by the Global Entrepreneurship Network and (b) how is this reflected in the programmes and policies of her department?”
Reply:
a) The role of the person named was to represent South Africa from a policy perspective, including the South African Ecosystem on entrepreneurship and to draw lessons on international best practice in and from the engagements at the Start-up Nations. The Summits are held annually and are attended by various countries on invitation and the participants engaged on discussions regarding entrepreneurship and lessons from countries represented.
b) One of the pillars, the current SMME Strategy (Integrated Strategy for the Development and Promotion of Enterprises and Entrepreneurship) provides for the promotion of entrepreneurship through campaigns, leadership training and awards. The Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) implements or partners with organisations that seek to achieve the objectives of this pillar. This has been evident in the DSBD’s partnership with various organisations during March 2017 to host the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC). One of the milestones of the GEC was the launch of the Global Entrepreneurship Network Africa chapter. As one of the founders of this Chapter the DSBD is involved in the activities that seek to promote entrepreneurship in the country and the continent.
The DSBD also focuses on supporting pre-start up activities that invigorate innovation and business start-up as part of increasing the levels of entrepreneurship in the country. The Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) rapid incubator programme linked to the Centres for entrepreneurship programme and the Black Business Supplier Development Programme (BBSDP) sub-programme targeting and funding start-ups are some of the examples that the DSBD is implementing.