HP spends R150m on empowerment

By Kimberly Guest for HP

Johannesburg, 27 Aug 2007

The newly-announced HP Business Institute (HPBI) brings the vendor's investment in broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) to over R150 million.

This weekend, HP VP and MD of the Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa region Ken Willett announced the enterprise and skills development programme.

The government has approved the HPBI programme as an equity equivalent investment. This means HP will not have to sell a stake in its local operations to receive a BBBEE rating.

Strategy alignment

Willett says the institute will not focus on HP-specific training, but rather those skills required by small and medium enterprises and industry at large.

"The detailed programme will be announced in November; however, I can confirm this is not about boosting HP skills. The HPBI will provide a mix of technical, business and soft skill training," he explains.

HP SA CEO Thoko Mokgosi-Mwantembe adds: "If we need more HP skills in the market, we do that training ourselves. This programme is about building industry and market pipelines and is unrelated to HP-specific training. As an industry, we need to address the skills gap, help SMEs to bolster the level of their workforce, and provide people with the skills to launch their own entrepreneurial endeavours."

Launching soon

The HPBI is aimed at existing employees and graduates in the SME ICT sector.

Mokgosi-Mwantembe says the institute will focus on developing scarce and critical skills.

"We have done various surveys with both the private and public sectors to establish these skills. We understand that more research needs to be done, but we refuse to pause our initiatives until something concrete comes through," she explains.

The institute is expected to open to 1 800 students in February.