Black economic empowerment (BEE) financing is an obstacle where many well-intentioned transactions stumble, says William Mzimba, newly-appointed Accenture SA MD.
"It is difficult for potential black shareholders to find capital to pay for an equity stake. If they do, the terms often leave them saddled with long-term debt," he says.
Mzimba says Accenture has opted for an "owner-operator model", which has seen it create an immediate 30% black shareholding.
"The owner-operator model enables broad-based benefits for black shareholders, without a capital outlay by black beneficiaries. It breaks perceptions that BEE-related equity is accompanied by limited company knowledge and lack of operational control," explains Mzimba.
Economic growth
"No economy can grow by excluding any part of its people. An economy that is not growing cannot economically integrate its citizens in a meaningful way. BEE aids in the development of entrepreneurship in the marketplace. Enterprise development promises sustainable prosperity for SA," he adds.
Mzimba notes that SA`s ICT sector contributes less than 10% to national gross domestic product. He says fostering entrepreneurship in the sector will create jobs and help the country become a high-performance producer of ICT services and products.
"This year, we expect to subcontract 10% of consulting revenues to black-owned companies," he says.
True empowerment
"We believe true BEE is about creating wealth for South Africans, employing skills and enterprise development initiatives, participating in meaningful job creation programmes and looking after the community," says Mzimba.
"Accenture is fully in line with the ICT charter`s employment equity targets - 55% of our workforce and 56% of our board in SA are made up of black professionals.
"This is why we have again achieved top marks in BEE, scoring an 'AAA` EmpowerDEX rating."
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