Enterprise Development & Business Support

Nedbank supports small business in South Africa with job creation, business incubators, training and mentorships. Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the economy. And through your hard work, passion and dedication you contribute to the growth and wellbeing of our people, our communities and our country.

At Nedbank, we vote small business and salute you with a number of programmes and initiatives designed to support and nurture startups and SMEs.

1. National job creation initiatives through municipality engagement

The support and development of emerging black businesses and entrepreneurs remain a core focus of government. Nedbank has engaged with various municipalities around providing grant funding for the purpose of capacity-building and mentorship programmes for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The training programmes encompass business skills training and mentorship to ensure that the theory is practically applied in the respective businesses.

The Expanded Public Works Programme appointed Nedbank as their preferred service provider for the Vuk’uphile Learnership Programme, aimed at developing emerging contractors. After five years and through partnerships with 24 implementing authorities (national, provincial, municipalities and public bodies/state-owned enterprises), 554 learner contractors have benefited.

Nedbank contributed R2,7 million in mentorship funding for the development of these small, medium and microenterprises (SMMEs), with 2 977 job opportunities created, R41 million total lent thus far and zero rand being written off for the past five years. In 2017 Nedbank was re-awarded the tender for an additional five-year period.

2. Partnerships and alliances with NGOs for job creation

A major focus area is engagement with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that focus on job creation. Nedbank has a crucial role to play in providing complementary support by way of financial and non-financial interventions to NGOs and emerging black enterprises.

i) Business incubators

Nedbank has partnered with many different business incubators, training initiatives and sector-specific interventions. The incubators provide SMEs with a platform that ensures an end-to-end nurturing and development solution. The SME receives crucial support, such as training and infrastructure, and access to service providers and capacity-building programmes for each of the beneficiary enterprises, all under one roof.

ii) Training, mentorship and specialist advisory services

Through alliances with service providers that provide accredited training programmes and capacity building, clients are assisted in areas where they lack acumen or expertise.

iii) Sponsorships

• Nedbank sponsors Pitch & Polish, a national initiative offering free workshops for entrepreneurs and startups so that they can pitch their business ideas in front of an audience and judges (from Engen, Raizcorp and Nedbank). Candidates enter a competition to win startup funding. Nedbank provides financial training and sponsorship and agrees to provide funding to the business owners where possible. This successful initiative will continue to receive sponsorship from Nedbank in 2017.Nedbank’s 2016 partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on behalf of Sustainable Enterprise Development Facility has been extended into 2017. The ILO drives sector-specific enterprise challenges in informal markets, using funding from government, international grants and other organisations. Providing education, transfer of skills (from industry partners) and grant funding to the winners of the challenges, this initiative aims to develop new formal businesses from the informal sector.
• Finfind is an online one-stop solution for access to finance for small businesses. The solution provides business owners seeking funding with the ability to improve their readiness for finance, including educational tools and links to various financial solutions that could best suit their financial needs. The partnership with Finfind extends this value further by linking potential clients to a dedicated team in Nedbank Retail Relationship Banking, to assist clients by facilitating their requests in the most effective way. Clients will also receive the benefit of a dedicated relationship banker that will serve as a business advisor for both their business and personal financial needs.
• Other Nedbank partnerships/sponsorships aimed at driving hands on engagement and mentoring of owners of SMEs:
• Investment in partnerships with 702’s Business Accelerator and Kaya FM to drive real engagement and learning with business owners.
• LaunchLab: sponsorship of a technology lab in Stellenbosch to provide critical support to incubate new business ideas.
• Riversands Incubation Hub: partnership with Riversands Hub in Johannesburg to grow and develop SMEs in and around Diepsloot.
• At Nedbank, we VOTE SMALL BUSINESS and salute you!

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 Source: Nedbank