The Small Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) Forum of SA will present its Small Business Excellence Awards later this month.
The Small Business Excellence Conference and Awards will take place on 23 and 24 July at Emperors Palace, in Johannesburg.
Criteria for the awards were set broadly in order to create true competitiveness and allow the entire small business sector to be able to participate, says SMME Forum president Tebogo Khaas.
Award categories include SME of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Top Youth SME, the Top Woman-Owned SME, the Top Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Contributor and Top New SME Product.
He says the SMME Forum received 1 400 entries from the SME sector. The judges subsequently developed a list of three finalists in each category; they will be announced some time next week.
The SME of the Year Award winner will also be awarded the Richard and Marina Maponya Entrepreneur Award, Khaas says.
An individual who has made a significant and lasting contribution to entrepreneurship and the promotion of small businesses in SA will receive the Presidential Lifetime Entrepreneurship award.
Deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is to be the guest of honour at the awards ceremony on the night of 24 July. Entry to the awards ceremony is by invitation only.
Networking opportunity
The Small Business Excellence Conference and Awards will also bring entrepreneurs together, with key players involved in small business funding, support, procurement and policy development, Khaas says.
Minister of trade and industry Mandisa Mphahlwa will deliver the keynote address at the conference.
Confirmed speakers for the conference programme include Dali Mpofu, group CEO of the South African Broadcasting Corporation; Godfrey Qhena, CEO of the Industrial Development Corporation; Xola Sithole, MD of Khula Enterprises; and Nonhlanhla Mjoli-Mncube, an economic advisor to Mlambo-Ncguka.
The fee for the two-day conference is R4 599 excluding VAT.
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