South Africa is rated the most unequal country in the world, with a 2022 World Bank report ranking it first out of 164 countries. About 10% of the population owns more than 80% of the country’s wealth, says the report. This is largely due to historical reasons such as apartheid, which was phased out in 1994, and the inequalities that originated under previous colonial rule.
However, 29 years since apartheid, and with the lack of consistent and coherent leadership and adequate solutions to redress the situation, racial and educational inequality remain visible in the socio-economic setting of South Africa today. With this as a backdrop, The Hope Factory’s entrepreneurship development programmes have been working to address these dominant features by promoting the development of black-owned start-ups and micro-enterprises through business skills and training initiatives.
The Hope Factory’s contribution towards the UN’s SDGs
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has generated 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) which are geared towards ending poverty and combating social issues in general, while protecting the planet and minimising the risks generated by climate change. Out of the 17 goals, The Hope Factory’s development programmes directly contribute towards the following:
- Goal 8 (Decent work and economic growth) − Their programmes are geared to play an active role in assisting programme beneficiaries to become more independent, with business income separated from their personal cash flow, grow their existing businesses, and become economic contributors while in the long run creating employment opportunities. Their entrepreneurship development programmes are designed to enhance business knowledge and practices, improve business performance, provide access to markets, and create job opportunities.
- Goal 11 (Sustainable cities and communities) − Small businesses are known to be the lifeline of every economy due to their potential of securing livelihoods and the promotion of economic contribution which then link to this goal.
When implemented with sufficient resources, The Hope Factory’s development programmes also promote the following goals:
- Goal 1 (Poverty alleviation) − Their hope is to, through improved business performance, mobilise economic activity and see an increase in sales leading to business profitability. This would mean that entrepreneurs will be able to meet their basic needs.
- Goal 4 (Quality education) − Their mentoring and training programme aims to enhance knowledge and skills transfer, which then enables the benefiting entrepreneurs to access the knowledge they need to run and grow a small business. This, then, also affects the confidence levels of the entrepreneur in running their own businesses, which makes them more resilient in not giving up on their businesses.
- Goal 5 (Gender equality) − The programmes they implement prioritise youth and females as the majority benefiting from the programmes. For example, 56% of the beneficiaries of their 2023 CHIETA (Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority) small business support programme are women, while 63% are youth members (under 35 years).
- Goal 10 (Reduced inequalities) − All SMMEs that benefit from THF programmes are 100% black-owned (in accordance with the BBBEE codes).
Creating pipeline partnerships between the private and public sector
The Hope Factory has targeted the contribution towards Goal 17 (Partnerships for the goals) where it aims to not only form public-private partnerships (PPPs) to promote sustainable development but also form global partnerships. In 2023 The Hope Factory successfully launched a new collaboration between a private entity, the Amakhala Emoyeni Community Trust (with Cennergi Services being the majority shareholder of the Amakhala Emoyeni Windfarm located between Cookhouse and Bedford), and a public entity, the CHIETA. (CHIETA is the chemical industries SETA, while Cennergi Services falls within the independent power producer (IPP) sector.)
The collaboration between the two entities has had a significant impact on programme implementation and has raised the expectation of a greatly desired outcome. Apart from realising differing desired outcomes from each partner, the PPP has brought about significant capacity to carry the project through its intended life cycle. The PPP has ensured that the project is able to effectively focus on the development of both entrepreneurs and businesses.
Although this multiple-entity partnership started only in January 2023, there have already been some noticeable progress indicators:
- 100% of the SMMEs are now registered
- 100% of the SMMEs are now CIPC compliant, and
- 100% of the SMMEs have received proper chemical product training and are now getting ready to start trading
The vast benefits that the programme intends to deliver have created a positive attitude among programme beneficiaries. Such a positive attitude is vital, as it often affects programme participation, promotes resilience, and limits the dropout rate.
The Hope Factory wishes to continue this trajectory in inclusive collaboration efforts between the private and public sectors. They have seen a success model emerging as more of these partnerships arise: the targeted public partners (SETAs) focus on the development of entrepreneurs through the promotion of skills and training, while the targeted private partners focus on business growth. This makes the PPPs vital for the effective delivery of their entrepreneurship development programmes.
The future continues to look bright, as The Hope Factory commits to building more strategic partnerships and pipelines. They also hope to secure a global footprint with international partnerships which will further enhance their cause and passion for sustainable development.
This month’s spotlight
Monnapula Maijane
In this month’s spotlight, we are highlighting Thamani Consulting
Thamani Consulting is a professional-service firm owned and managed by young highly skilled professionals with experience in accounting, tax, and advisory. The company was established by Abed Tau and Tebogo Sehume in 2014 and is currently managed by Monnapula Maijane, who has more than 10 years’ experience in the fields of accounting and tax.
Thamani Consulting currently services over 50 clients made up of a variety of big corporates and small businesses, its primary target being SMMEs. ‘Our experience as a business covers, but is not limited to, the following industries: mining, edutech, agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, law, leasing and fleet management, NPO, and financial services,’ says Maijane.
For more information about the practice, please visit their website: www.thamanisi.co.za.
Author
Sisipho Cakwe, The Hope Factory
