Pretoria - Much remains to be done to level the playing field for historically disadvantaged people in the South African economy, the Trade and Industry Department (dti) said on Friday.
Dti acting chief director of the black industrialists programme Takalani Tambani told delegates at the department’s “success summit” in Pretoria that employment and technical skills transfer were key to accelerating active participation by black people in the economy.
The theme for the summit was entrepreneurial wealth creation, and focused on upliftment of youth, women, and disabled entrepreneurial communities in rural and township areas.
Tambani said businesses that would create jobs needed to enter the economic space and participate meaningfully in key sectors of the economy and the value chain.
“Our approach to small business support systems is multi-pronged. It combines government support systems in funding, incubation, and market support as well as private networks of information and strategy sharing among emerging businesses,” he said.
Government had continuously expressed its commitment to support and develop small businesses and was focused on promoting the creation of black industrialists through the programme to fast track inclusive economic growth.
To date over R500 million had been approved for more than eight companies that applied for the programme.
African News Agency