North West Business 2023-24
The 2023/24 edition of North West Business marks the 12th publication of this highly successful journal that, since its launch in 2009, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the North West Province. Renewable energy is a huge global trend, and the impact this burgeoning sector is having on the North West can be seen in the development of several new solar farms which are under construction. The North West’s strong suit in platinum group metals (PGMs) already puts the province at the forefront of the drive towards a greener and renewable economy because of the applicability of so many of those minerals and metals for the cleaner energy movement. North West Business includes news and analysis of the most important sectors. Best known for its platinum mines, grain and livestock farming and tourism, the province is making a concerted effort to bolster its manufacturing capacity through a dedicated new strategy which includes trying to attract solar panel manufacturing to the province. To complement the extensive local, national and international distribution of the print edition, the full content can also be viewed online at www.globalafricanetwork.com. Updated information on the North West is also available through our monthly e-newsletter, which you can subscribe to at www.gan.co.za, in addition to our complementary business-to-business titles that cover all nine provinces, our flagship South African Business title and the new addition to our list of publications, Journal of African Business, which was launched in 2020.
The 2023/24 edition of North West Business marks the 12th publication of this highly successful journal that, since its launch in 2009, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the North West Province. Renewable energy is a huge global trend, and the impact this burgeoning sector is having on the North West can be seen in the development of several new solar farms which are under construction. The North West’s strong suit in platinum group metals (PGMs) already puts the province at the forefront of the drive towards a greener and renewable economy because of the applicability of so many of those minerals and metals for the cleaner energy movement. North West Business includes news and analysis of the most important sectors. Best known for its platinum mines, grain and livestock farming and tourism, the province is making a concerted effort to bolster its manufacturing capacity through a dedicated new strategy which includes trying to attract solar panel manufacturing to the province.
To complement the extensive local, national and international distribution of the print edition, the full content can also be viewed online at www.globalafricanetwork.com. Updated information on the North West is also available through our monthly e-newsletter, which you can subscribe to at www.gan.co.za, in addition to our complementary business-to-business titles that cover all nine provinces, our flagship South African Business title and the new addition to our list of publications, Journal of African Business, which was launched in 2020.
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
OVERVIEW<br />
SMME and development finance<br />
SMMEs are preparing to export.<br />
SECTOR INSIGHT<br />
The Mafikeng Digital<br />
Innovation Hub incubated<br />
60 businesses.<br />
Export Awareness Workshops held by the NWDC and the dtic<br />
help small business owners get access to markets.<br />
Having access to foreign markets goes a long way to creating<br />
a bigger business out of a small business.<br />
With many interventions in the SMME sector being<br />
designed to give small business owners access to the<br />
mainstream economy, the Export Awareness Workshops, jointly<br />
hosted by the <strong>North</strong> <strong>West</strong> Development Corporation (NWDC) and the<br />
National Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic), exactly<br />
fit the bill.<br />
Held in Rustenburg, Mahikeng and Potchefstroom in 2022,<br />
the workshops covered every aspect of the exporting process for<br />
interested business owners.<br />
Some of the topics that were included in the workshops were:<br />
• Export-readiness assessment<br />
• Registration as an exporter, SARS Customs Division<br />
• Certificate of Origin, to prove a product is authentically South<br />
African<br />
• Marketing plan and strategy<br />
• Licences and permits<br />
• Trade leads<br />
• Services offered by the dtic’s Export Helpdesk<br />
• Export Marketing and Investment Assistance (EMIA) and how<br />
to qualify<br />
• Sector Specific Assistance Scheme (SSAS), application through<br />
provincial agencies<br />
• Participation at an international expo pavilion<br />
• Industry-specific export councils<br />
At the conclusion of the<br />
workshop, anyone showing an<br />
interest in taking up exporting<br />
was encouraged to register with<br />
the dtic and to attend two fourday<br />
intensive workshops on the<br />
department’s Global Export<br />
Passport Programme (GEPP).<br />
As one of the biggest<br />
enterprises in the province, Impala<br />
Rustenburg naturally makes a big<br />
impact on the provincial economy<br />
through its supply chain. The<br />
company’s Enterprise and Supplier<br />
Development (ESD) Programme<br />
has similarly had a big impact.<br />
Since 2021, 400 SMMEs have<br />
benefitted from various initiatives<br />
under the programme.<br />
A training programme<br />
designed to help informal<br />
businesses become formalised<br />
invites SMMEs to attend a<br />
five-day workshop. From that,<br />
candidates are selected to be<br />
part of a 12-month programme<br />
to learn further skills. This<br />
programme is run for Impala<br />
Rustenburg by Classic Oriental<br />
Consulting and Accuracy Group,<br />
two local SMMEs which operate<br />
within the mine communities.<br />
More recently, Impala<br />
Rustenburg has opened an<br />
Economic Inclusion Centre (EIC)<br />
that will serve as a small business<br />
hub for mine-community SMMEs. It<br />
NORTH WEST BUSINESS <strong>2023</strong>/<strong>24</strong><br />
28<br />
PHOTO: NWDC
Change language