SAB’s Supplier Development programmes
SAB’s Supplier Development programmes aim to create a diversified and inclusive supply chain by supporting the growth and creation of Black-owned suppliers through business development support and funding.
To cohesively solve the challenges of creating a healthy pipeline of suppliers that represent the demographics of the country, SAB created a two-pronged approach. This approach is aimed at supporting the top-performing suppliers with the greatest potential for growth with programmes to suit their needs, be it funding, business development support or both.
These programmes are the SAB Accelerator and the SAB Thrive Fund. Both programmes will combine global best practice and innovation unique to the South African context.
The first programme, SAB Accelerator, is focused on supporting Black-owned suppliers in need of business development and technical support to grow further into the SAB supply chain. SAB Accelerator attempts to scale their service or product offering to enhance their efficiency by enabling them to improve performance and capacity. The programme has 3 sub-programmes namely, Start-up, Catalyst and Amplify.
The second programme is the SAB Thrive Fund, a fund focused on supporting existing Black-owned suppliers in need of capital to grow. Simultaneously, SAB Thrive Fund supports existing suppliers improve their Black ownership credentials by providing them with access to 100% Black-owned capital. The SAB Thrive Fund is an Enterprise & Supplier Development (E&SD) Fund powered by the Awethu Project which is the Black Private Equity Fund Manager that owns a majority of the Fund (51%) – enabling this intervention to speak to both the spirit and the letter of the B-BBEE codes by creating shared value for both SAB and Black-owned businesses.
THRIVE:
The SAB Thrive Fund is the SAB Supplier Development Fund, which has the mandate to create both stronger and more black-owned suppliers in the SAB supply chain. The SAB Thrive Fund looks to invest in SAB suppliers with turnover greater than R5m and less than R50million (QSE), to improve SABs B-BBEE compliance, while simultaneously creating shared value for new Black economic entrants.
The SAB Thrive Fund is a fund owned by SAB, in partnership with the Black Youth-owned Black Private Equity Fund Manager, the Awethu Project. The Fund’s capital is considered 100% black-owned in line with the DTIs B-BBEE Codes.
The SAB Thrive Fund also provides existing White-owned suppliers with equity capital to support the enhancement of their black-ownership, while facilitating the introduction of a black entrepreneur(s) to gain an ownership stake in the business with the intention of apprenticing this individual, to take over the business in the near future.
Existing black-owned suppliers
The SAB Thrive Fund invests equity capital into SAB’s existing high-growth black-owned suppliers to provide growth capital to further their profitable expansion, without diluting the black-ownership of these businesses, through the following process:
- Selection: The SAB Thrive Fund investment team selects qualifying high-potential black-owned suppliers in collaboration with the SAB procurement team
- Investment: Once selected, the SAB Thrive Fund investment team assists the black-owned supplier by providing capital for growth, access to markets and negotiation of offtake agreements
- Post-Investment: Over the life of the investment, the SAB Thrive Fund provides Post-investment support to support revenue growth, holistic transformation and business reporting
Existing White-owned suppliers
The SAB Thrive Fund provides existing White-owned suppliers with equity capital to support the enhancement of their black-ownership, while facilitating the introduction of a black entrepreneur(s) to gain an ownership stake in the business with the intention of apprenticing senior management, to take over the business in the near future, through the following process:
- Selection: The SAB Thrive Fund investment team first selects qualifying White-owned suppliers based on their strategic importance; differentiation and willingness to transform
- Investment: Once selected, the SAB Thrive Fund investment team assist the supplier by deploying transformation equity capital, access to markets and negotiation of offtake agreements
- Post-Investment: Over the life of the investment, the SAB Thrive Fund provides Post-investment support to stimulate revenue growth while also supporting the recruitment and on boarding of the black entrepreneur(s) to ensure the adequate transfer of skills and knowledge required to ultimately lead the investee supplier and enable succession.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to apply for funding from the SAB Thrive Fund, applicants must be:
- A black-owned or white-owned supplier to SAB, with a total turnover less than R50 million in the last financial year
- (I.e. The supplier has a vendor number and has provided a product / service to SAB.)
- A black-owned supplier looking to expand their business through the introduction of growth equity and partnership with the SAB Thrive Fund
- A white-owned supplier looking to transform their B-BBEE ownership by enabling a Black Entrepreneur(s) to purchase equity in the business via the SAB Thrive Fund, and operate that business alongside the existing management team
- The product or service provided to SAB must fall within any one of the following areas of SAB’s Supply Chain:
- Brewing Materials
- Marketing & Sales
- Supply Chain & Logistics
- Packaging Materials
- Professional Business Services
SAB ACCELERATOR:
SAB Accelerator focuses on supporting small black-owned and black woman-owned suppliers by enabling them to access business development support in the form of tools, mentoring, technical coaching and business performance monitoring over the following sub programmes:
Start-up and Catalyst Programmes
The Start-up and Catalyst programmes screen all potential suppliers to identify business gaps and provide the required support to enhance the business. After selection, the suppliers in the programmes are taken through a 2 to 5 month programme involving a variety of mentoring, training, and project management. Thereafter, depending on their performance they either graduate into the Amplify programme or graduate from the programme entirely.
Amplify Programme
The Amplify programme provides additional business development support to the graduates of the Start-up and Catalyst programmes. This support is in the form of coaching, mentoring, training and project management for a period of 3 months. Upon completion of the programme, applicants exit the programme and are monitored on a bi-annual basis for a period of 5 years to support their challenges further and analyse their progress.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to apply, applicants must be either:
- An existing black-owned/ black woman-owned suppliers currently servicing SAB’s supply chain at the time of application.
- An existing black-owned or black woman-owned supplier that has the potential to join the SAB supply chain based on their product/service offering.
Source: www.sabentrepreneurship.co.za
SAB Entrepreneurship Programme (Owner)
