Programme beneficiary Nhlanhla Mthembu of Bizdev Concepts
Following the launch of the National Trade Programme (NTP), selected business owners from across the country now stand a chance to attend the Smart Procurement World Conference to be held in Johannesburg in September.
The NTP was launched by the Micro Enterprise Development Organisation (Medo), a business support organisation that connects businesses with an annual turnover of more than R35 million with emerging small and micro-enterprises with an annual turnover of less than
R5 million.
In addition to business linkages, Medo also launched an information, communications and technology (ICT) incubator late last year.
The ICT incubator was the first youth incubator in the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) stable of incubators under its Incubator Support Programme, which was launched in 2012.
According to Judy Sandrock, Medo’s CEO, the NTP will run throughout the year and seeks to assist local young entrepreneurs with opportunities to conduct business nationally by subsidizing their travel and accommodation costs.
“The goals of this programme are to encourage small businesses to trade outside their cities of origin and to remove the barriers to trade, which usually relate to the cost of business travel to prospect and close sales,” says Sandrock.
The NTP, a supplier development programme, is funded through sponsors from the private sector; in turn, these will earn full supplier development credits.
The first sponsors were Tsogo Sun for accommodation and Comair for air travel of business owners who attended the inaugural Smart Procurement World conference held in Cape Town last month.
The programme subsidised business owners Victor Mazibuko, the owner of MCC VIC Trading, Raphael Mohlala of Phakamo Holdings, Nhlanhla Mthembu of Bizdev Concepts, Sechaba Ngwenya of Creditable, and Josias Motsoeneng of AC Electromech Maintenance Services.
- For more information, go to www.medo.co.za or call 010 500 5000.