Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD), a new and particularly exciting initiative for Accelerate Cape Town this year, is aimed at supporting regional entrepreneurship by providing technical training, access to finance, and access to market opportunities through corporate supply chains and procurement. Creating entrepreneurial opportunities, whilst supporting emerging enterprises with skills and finance, creates an environment where economically marginalised communities can take responsibility for their own prosperity.

As the development of small-to-medium scale enterprises (SMEs) is probably the most meaningful way to grow a more diverse and sustainable economic landscape for South Africa by supporting the growth of new business, our ESD Programme aims to build more sustainable sectors in an effort to encourage greater socioeconomic transformation.

A viable, and desperately needed solution to SA’s economic woes and unemployment crisis is greater entrepreneurial activity. We need to start creating an environment where emerging enterprises are able to participate in greater market opportunities, whilst benefiting from access to finance and technical skills. Government has an important role to support this through revised legislation that allows for tax breaks, incentives, and reduced administrative burdens whilst the corporate sector has an even greater role to play with respect to opening supply chain opportunities, transferring skills, and developing new models to provide finance in a manner that ensures big business absorbs greater risk.

Our CEO, Ryan Ravens, comments of the value of ESD initiatives: