The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has approved guidelines to step up measures to enhance the competitiveness of local black-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Trade and industry minister Rob Davies recently approved the revised guidelines to the current Black Business Supplier Development Programme (BBSDP).
The BBSDP is a 90:10 cost-sharing grant which offers support to black-owned enterprises. The scheme provides companies access to business development services and assists them to restructure their processes and increase competitiveness.
Amendments to the current BBSDP are primarily aimed at assisting black-owned SMEs to acquire productivity-enhancing technology. Projects aimed at improving the management system of an enterprise, production planning and control systems, the procurement of software and Web site design will be funded. Projects that also aim to impart specialised, enterprise-specific skills to employees, such as specialised technical courses, computer maintenance and repair courses, will also receive additional funding.
The DTI says revised guidelines also aim to enable enterprises to access opportunities created by the broad-based black economic empowerment government policies, and supply goods and services to the corporate sector, parastatals and government.
The department notes that applications under the current programme will be accepted until 31 August. The new guidelines will be published on the DTI Web site on 30 September and officially replace existing guidelines. The revised BBSDP will be effective as of 1 April 2010.
From its inception in 2002, to July 2009, the BBSDP has shown an approximate growth of 800%. A total of 6 409 enterprises have benefited and an amount of R268 804 782 has been allocated to SMEs in the programme.
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