NEWS RELEASE                                                                                                   6 July 2001

 CAPE TOWN’S SMALL BUSINESS INITIATIVE WILL LOWER FAILURE RATE

Cape Town is to direct its efforts in supporting the city’s burgeoning small business sector by focusing on the provision of basic business skills and knowledge, in an effort to significantly lower the potential rate of failure in this sector. 

This comes from a realisation, based on a recent survey, that the city’s 60 000 strong small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) currently account for nearly 95% of Cape Town’s business sector and contribute over 40% of employment and more than 50% of total economic output in the city. 

The Mail & Guardian recently disclosed that on a national front, a considerable number (117 246) of small business enterprises receiving government grants (R68 million) had failed. This has had a negative impact on the national economy and weakened investor confidence in this sector. 

To counter this trend, the City of Cape Town is hosting its inaugural Small Business Week at the Peninsula Technikon from 17 – 20 July 2001. 

The event is specifically designed to give local entrepreneurs the opportunity to attend a wide range of basic business skills courses, interactive workshops and support events, as well as interface with finance institutions and give input into the Economic Transformation Programme for the city. 

Small Business Week will function as a showcase for local government, NGO, the private sector and institutional networks to assist them in their entrepreneurial activities. 

“We realise that the government and financial institutions simply throwing money at the small business sector, is not enough,” said Mr George Penxa, City of Cape Town’s Economic Development, Tourism and Property Management, Interim co-ordinator and project manager for Small Business Week.   

“True empowerment comes from knowledge and information. I believe that local government has a responsibility to ensure that entrepreneurs get the fundamental training and well-directed access to the right kind of institutional support to give them optimum chance of succeeding in whatever small business environment they choose to operate,” said George Penxa. 

Such an approach is certainly likely to make the venture capital sector more amenable to lending money and getting involved in previously unproven manufacturing, trading or service enterprises. 

“The expansion of Big business into domestic markets cannot be limited but government, in partnership with business and communities can holistically work towards curtailing the influence of crime on the business sector as a whole,” said Mr Penxa.  

“Now we’re involving the private sector as our partners in this initiative on the basis of our common commitment to create a viable and sustainable economic environment that deals with issues like unemployment, venture financing and business skills training.” 

Small Business Week’s basic business skills courses will be certificated and cover a variety of subjects, from the writing of business plans, record keeping and costing of products and services, marketing and risk management, to market research and occupational health and safety. 

Keynote speakers will address issues such as the financing of small business, joint venture financing, franchising and local government procurement opportunities, as well as AIDS in the workplace and the role of labour in stimulating economic growth. 

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