The public has been encouraged to submit nominations for the Inaugural National Presidential Small Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) and Co-operatives Awards by Friday, 4 November.
“The awards will recognise and celebrate outstanding Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs), SMME Financiers, Entrepreneur Support Organisations and Success Stories from Enterprise Supplier Development Programmes,” the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) said on Thursday.
Nominations for SMMEs, financiers, entrepreneur support organisations and success stories from Enterprise Supplier Development Programmes for an award, can be done on https://smmeawards.co.za/.
The National Presidential SMME and Co-operatives Awards are aimed at cultivating an enabling environment for the development and nurturing of innovative ideas and best practices across the whole spectrum of small business development in the country.
The DSBD and its agencies, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) will be hosting the Inaugural National Presidential SMME and Co-operatives Awards, in Bryanston, Johannesburg on 13 November 2022.
The DSBD also intends to award businesses that have shown resilience and have managed to sustain operations during and post the COVID 19 pandemic.
“We are incredibly proud to be hosting this celebration of entrepreneurial excellence to showcase entrepreneurial activities through identifying and showcasing innovative stakeholders that are driving economic development and job creations,” Minister of Small Business Development Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said.
Global Entrepreneurship Week
The awards will also serve as a platform to launch the annual Global Entrepreneurship Week 2022 (GEW). This global event is celebrated in over 200 countries with over 10 000 partners and 40 000 activities.
Furthermore, GEW aims to inspire nations to empower entrepreneurs and encourage citizens to become self-starters by finding innovative ways of doing business. GEW is a call to action for societies to promote resilience and leverage the power of new ideas to impact societies globally.
National Presidential SMMEs and Co-operatives Summit
Furthermore, the DSBD and its agencies will also host the inaugural National Presidential SMMEs and Co-operatives Summit on 14 – 15 November 2022.
“The primary focus of the Summit will be to solicit tangible inputs on areas of potential collaboration from key role players in the small enterprise ecosystem as guided by the National Integrated Small Enterprise Development (NISED) Masterplan.
“The NISED Masterplan represents a national strategy that will coordinate government efforts in partnership with the private sector to build a supportive ecosystem for small enterprises to thrive and grow.
“To implement the NISED Masterplan successfully, the Department needs to coordinate all role players, and the Summit aims to solidify and negotiate collaboration and partnership in the implementation of the NISED Masterplan as the guiding national strategy for small enterprise development,” the department said.
Government intends to host the summit every two years following the adoption of the NISED Masterplan.
Source: South African Government News Agency