Deadline nears for Africa SMME Awards

SMALL, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) owners who are still interested to enter for the Africa SMME Awards have less than one month to compile their entries before the cut-off date of July 1.

The Africa SMME Awards are presented to African businesses that strive for excellence in order to be competitive in regional, national and international markets. There are 12 sector and 5 regional awards, as well as the overall Africa SMME of the Year award.There is also award for the best journalist on SMME reporting.SMMEs can be nominated in these categories banking and finance, information and communications technology; minerals mining and energy; agriculture and food; environment, transport and tourism; health and social welfare; arts and crafts; manufacturing, construction, education, training and consulting services and the open category.The competition, in its second year running, is organised by the Africa Centre for Investment Analysis at the University of Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa.A statement released yesterday by the competition organisers said the initiative is a continent-wide competition and, according to Jako Volschenk, coordinator of the awards, “The response from African businesses North of the Limpopo River has been tremendous, especially from countries like Ethiopia, Uganda, Mauritius and Ghana.These countries are well known for their strong small business sectors and we have received tremendous support from the chambers of commerce and other supporters of business development”.The good news for enterprises from these countries is that the five regional awards will be sponsored by Xstrata, an international mining company.This is the second big sign of support from the private sector, Volschenk said.”We have been fortunate that the bigger business community have come to realise the potential for economic growth through investment at small business level,” he added.Finalists of the competition will be notified on August 2 and the awards will be presented at the sixth Annual Development Finance Conference at an awards banquet on 21 October.The event will be broadcast live on SABC Africa and other African broadcast channels.Other sponsors of the competition include TradeWorld, Business Day Africa, Real Business, the South African Department of Trade and Industry, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the University of Stellenbosch.SMMEs that are interested to enter can contact the coordinator on jako@acia.sun.ac.za or visit www.acia.sun.ac.za.There are 12 sector and 5 regional awards, as well as the overall Africa SMME of the Year award.There is also award for the best journalist on SMME reporting.SMMEs can be nominated in these categories banking and finance, information and communications technology; minerals mining and energy; agriculture and food; environment, transport and tourism; health and social welfare; arts and crafts; manufacturing, construction, education, training and consulting services and the open category.The competition, in its second year running, is organised by the Africa Centre for Investment Analysis at the University of Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa.A statement released yesterday by the competition organisers said the initiative is a continent-wide competition and, according to Jako Volschenk, coordinator of the awards, “The response from African businesses North of the Limpopo River has been tremendous, especially from countries like Ethiopia, Uganda, Mauritius and Ghana.These countries are well known for their strong small business sectors and we have received tremendous support from the chambers of commerce and other supporters of business development”.The good news for enterprises from these countries is that the five regional awards will be sponsored by Xstrata, an international mining company.This is the second big sign of support from the private sector, Volschenk said.”We have been fortunate that the bigger business community have come to realise the potential for economic growth through investment at small business level,” he added.Finalists of the competition will be notified on August 2 and the awards will be presented at the sixth Annual Development Finance Conference at an awards banquet on 21 October.The event will be broadcast live on SABC Africa and other African broadcast channels.Other sponsors of the competition include TradeWorld, Business Day Africa, Real Business, the South African Department of Trade and Industry, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the University of Stellenbosch.SMMEs that are interested to enter can contact the coordinator on jako@acia.sun.ac.za or visit www.acia.sun.ac.za.