Statement by the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, Alderman James Vos

I recently had the pleasure of joining the City’s Special Business Partner, the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi), at the Bandwidth Barn in Khayelitsha for the graduation of a group of young entrepreneurs from the Top Tech Tools for Youth in Business (YIB) Bootcamp programme.

The graduates were from Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, and surrounding areas and come from sectors including manufacturing, farming and educational technology.

The entrepreneurs took part in a two-week style bootcamp programme funded by the City and Absa. The bootcamp involved a range of business growth strategies such as digital marketing and cloud computing. As part of their graduation, the entrepreneurs pitched their early-stage business ideas to guests from the City, Absa, and CiTi.

As a City, we are proud to support the development of Cape Town’s entrepreneurs. In South Africa, small and medium enterprises absorb between 50-60% of the country’s workforce and contribute 39% to the national GDP.

Small businesses fuel Cape Town’s economic innovation and prosperity. Entrepreneurs breathe life into the community and create a marketplace of innovative products and services.

This includes boosting the growth of entrepreneurs in previously disadvantaged communities. When small businesses grow into large businesses they often remain in the community where the business was established, hence they will stimulate the local economy by providing new employment.

As such, it gives me great excitement to witness the graduation of these young people who are now equipped with some of the most sought-after skills in the country in one of the world’s fastest-growing regions for foreign direct investment.

The City government has platforms, partnerships and initiatives to bring more investments so that more opportunities open up. This includes initiatives such as our series of workshops for small businesses, and support of Workforce Development Programmes to upskill Capetonians for our booming industries.

This is how we are realising economic growth and opportunity for Cape Town.

Source: City Of Cape Town