Johannesburg - IBM South Africa has invested R700 million in an equity empowerment programme to boost skills development and train more small business people.
Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies and senior representatives from IBM announced the programme in Parliament yesterday.
Country manager for IBM Abraham Thomas and executive manager for the equity investment programme Gavin Pieterse said it would contribute to the growth of skills development in technology.
Thomas said while it had been operating in the country for more than 50 years, it wanted to be more involved in skills development and training small entrepreneurs. IBM wanted to strengthen ties with South Africa.
Commitment
Two weeks ago IBM chief executive Ginni Rommetty was in South Africa where she met both Davies and President Jacob Zuma.
Thomas said Rommetty had assured the president and the minister of her company’s commitment to South Africa.
He added that the presence of IBM in the country was not only about investment, but also skills development.
“This is our commitment to the country and we want it to be successful,” Thomas said of the equity investment programme.
Pieterse urged fellow multinationals to make similar investments in the country.
He said the equity investment programme had improved the level of compliance with the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Codes.
IBM was involved in the R700m programme because it believed in developing skills in science and technology.
“Why do we want to bake this cake the way it is? We want to look at the priorities, the way they are articulated in the National Development Plan,” he said.
Thomas said they were not expecting any tenders from the government by contributing R700m to the equity investment programme.
They will fund 56 students to study BSc computer science at Wits University on all levels.
On the enterprise development programme, IBM will develop 74 small entrepreneurs.
Thomas and Pieterse said they hoped other multinational companies would follow in IBM’s footsteps and inject cash in research development and empowerment in South Africa.
They said South Africa was the top user of broadband in Africa and more foreign companies should be interested in doing business in the country.
Davies said the equity investment programme was in line with B-BBEE Codes of Practice. The value of these equity investment programmes were either 25 percent of the value of the multinational’s operations in South Africa or 4 percent of its total revenue in its operations in South Africa annually, he added.
The minister said this was the biggest primary investment that would get the country to occupy a big space in research.
While IBM would fund students to study information and communication technology (ICT) it would not require them to work for them once they completed their studies.
“When you look at the State of the Nation address, there is significant commitment in the ICT space. There is commitment on broadband,” Davies said. Empowerment was necessary in the transformation of the economy, he added.