Skills development and job creation were high on the agenda during Lord Mayor of London, Michael Bear's, recent visit to Cape Town, where he met with 11 South African IT businesses looking to take their products and services to the UK.
According to Bear, Africa's growth potential in the next 30 years could outstrip growth of both India and Brazil combined.
He says UK businesses should start planning for around 750 million middle-class Africans by 2040.
Rob Stokes, chairman of the Silicon Cape initiative, says the UK is a great export market for skills in SA, due to local talent, as well as language and cultural similarities between SA and the UK.
However, he notes that the skills shortage is still a problem in SA. “The reality is that trade relations with the UK won't have a big impact on the high skills shortage in SA. It's SA's problem to solve. Everyone has a role to play, from companies providing in-house training, to education and government.”
According to Alex Fraser, Invenfin business development manager, public-private partnerships and building relationships with European counterparts are key to helping business foster innovation and knowledge transfer.
Fraser says: “An entire delegation has been created through UK trade and investment to provide a role to help companies establish themselves in the UK market. It will help companies to enter and do business in the UK, while complying with UK regulations.”
Non-profit Silicon Cape recently rolled out free business training seminars to help IT entrepreneurs jumpstart their businesses. For more information, visit Silicon Cape.
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