Microsoft SA is set to meet with trade and industry minister Rob Davies in the next two weeks to resolve issues around its equity equivalency deal.
Microsoft announced its R472 million empowerment deal in April, saying it will partner with a handful of software developers in a bid to grow start-up firms into multinational giants.
In September, the company said it was assessing applications for participation in its empowerment deal, and was expected to make an announcement about the winning players last month.
However, Microsoft SA MD Mteto Nyati says the process has been held up over concerns within the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) over how to measure the outcomes of the equity equivalency plan.
Nyati says the company has chosen the winning partners, but the department wants a system in place to ensure Microsoft delivers on its objectives in return for the equity equivalency points it will gain as a result of the deal.
The company is set to meet with Davies within the next two weeks to agree to a way forward, he says. However, a firm date has yet to be set.
Microsoft's deal is unique in SA and was hailed for empowering smaller companies instead of the usual suspects. Microsoft will fund start-up enterprises and provide business knowledge to help them become global software players.
It received more than 680 applications from prospective companies in response to its nationwide request for proposals. Of these, 141 met the qualifying criteria, and were whittled down further through a selection panel.
The DTI was not immediately available to comment this morning.
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