By: Noxolo Majavu
Much more needs to be done for South Africa’s economy to enter a phase of transformation, and dynamic and inclusive growth. This is according to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was speaking at the Black Business Council (BBC) awards gala and this week, as part of the council’s annual two-day summit. As Ramaphosa called on black industrialists to join the effort of rebuilding the economy, he said: “We will be setting ourselves an ambitious target for expanding trade with our fellow African countries over the next five years, leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area.
This strategic initiative will form the cornerstone of our efforts to deepen economic integration and maximise the benefits of regional trade.” From the recent Black Industrialists Conference, R261 billion in pledges has been secured to buy from more than 230 black-owned firms over a period over one to five years through private sector procuring entities in retail, automotive, metal fabrication, food and agriculture, ICT, the financial sector, and others, said Ramaphosa.
These firms have a combined R330 billion annual turnover, measured in their operations and that of their core suppliers, and support over 282,000 direct and indirect jobs. “What we are also pleased to report that of this, R11,8 billion in pledges were made by 18 black industrialists to procure goods and services from 55 black industrialists in turn. We are also seeing more black industrialists making pledges at the annual South Africa Investment Conference,” he added.
He continued to say that the government’s relationship with the Black Business Council has deepened since the sixth administration took office in 2019, while commending the council for being instrumental in rebuilding the capacity in institutions from the ground up following the devastating blows of state capture. He also acknowledged the role that affirmative action legislation and supportive initiatives like worker shareholder schemes and the funding for black entrepreneurs, for transforming the economy over the past 30 years.
He cited the B-BBEE Commission’s statistics that the black ownership of firms in South Africa had grown from negligible levels in 1994 to approximately 30% today, with black women ownership averaging around 14%. In 2016, the Black Industrialists Programme had an initial target of 100 black industrialists to be supported and developed. Today, there are over 1,700 black-owned and black-managed firms that were the result of the programme.
