FirstRand unveiled its black economic empowerment (BEE) procurement strategy at an exhibition at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, where 50 of the group`s 200 accredited BEE suppliers exhibited their goods and services.
CEO Paul Harris says the procurement strategy is not driven by compliance, but by a strong belief that the financial services industry can and must be a powerful force in economic development.
FirstRand investor and media relations director Sam Moss says as much as possible of the total group procurement spend of R2.6 billion will be directed at accredited BEE suppliers. She says as FirstRand`s procurement expenditure exceeds the capacity of BEE suppliers, the group will take as much as it can get from that sector.
FirstRand says its approach to BEE procurement has been three-pronged. Firstly, the group appointed an internal BEE procurement council, which was tasked with ensuring that the many different businesses within the group developed common goals and practices with regard to procurement. The next step was to put into operation a mechanism to facilitate group procurement and provide direct access to BEE suppliers for each group business. For the third component of the strategy, FirstRand asked economic empowerment rating agency, Empowerdex, to provide independent accreditation to its BEE suppliers.
"The group felt that the process could be open to bias if we accredited our suppliers, so we decided to align ourselves with an independent agency," says Harris. "With the added benefit that Empowerdex is also aligned with the national strategy for economic empowerment."
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