In a first-time partnership, the City of Cape Town’s Urban Management Directorate and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) is calling on Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) to apply for a three-year training programme aimed at equipping entrepreneurs with the necessary skills and support to grow their businesses. Entrepreneurs have from today, Monday, 4 October until Friday, 22 October to apply.
Approximately 200 participants, including SMMES and informal traders, will have the opportunity to participate in a three-year accredited entrepreneurship training programme to help boost their businesses.
This exciting initiative is being actioned for the first time by the City’s Expanded Public Works Programme and UWC’s Centre For Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI).
‘The City is pleased to be partnering with UWC to provide formal and informal business owners with a platform to increase and develop their skills, as well as be mentored throughout the three-year hands on, interactive programme. The range of topics covered will empower them to make informed decisions to help grow their businesses, create employment opportunities as well as continue to contribute to the local economy. Well-run businesses also provide the opportunity for upskilling employees through sharing knowledge and skills, which strengthens services rendered and makes staff marketable to future job opportunities.
‘We encourage entrepreneurs who meet the criteria to make use of this opportunity and please apply. This initiative is an extension of the City’s existing and ongoing efforts to support local entrepreneurs to help grow their businesses,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Management, Alderman Grant Twigg.
‘UWC is excited to be partnering with the City of Cape Town in this groundbreaking initiative. We are excited to be able to add value to the EPWP objective of supporting local entrepreneurs, assisted by the CEI, who has been offering entrepreneurial training for a number of years’, says UWC Finance and Operations Executive, Abduraghman Regal.
About the three-year entrepreneurship training programme:
It’s free to participants
It will run from 1 November 2021 to 31 October 2024.
Topics covered will include entrepreneurship, business analysis and coaching, mobile technology to support business as well as growth strategies, among others.
Participants will also receive practical support via mentorship, as well as ongoing monitoring and evaluation during the programme.
Sessions will be online and in-person at UWC campus, adhering to Covid-19 protocols.
Entrepreneurs can apply if they have:
a new business;
an existing or entry-level SMME that has been in operation for less than two years; or
an existing SMME that has been in operation for more than two years.
The business can be registered or unregistered.
The City’s EPWP team will work with the University of the Western Cape’s CEI to evaluate applications and approve the final list of participants.
If more than 200 applicants meet the criteria, preference will be given to existing businesses. Specific selection criteria, communicated at the time, will also be applied to choose the most suitable candidates.
Source: City Of Cape Town