ECIAfrica News

2009 NEWS ARCHIVE

 

Latest news from DAI

 

ECIAfrica News: 2010

02 Mar 2010: Head of ECIAfrica Programme Appointed to National Small Business Advisory Council

ECIAfrica is proud to announce that the Minister of Trade and Industry has requested John James, the Chief of Party of the South African International Business Linkages Programme (SAIBL), to serve on the National Small Business Advisory Council. The body will advise the Minister on a variety of issues, such as strategies to address identified market failures affecting the sector; the impact of legislation on small business; national standards for small business development and regulation; business infrastructure creation, skills development, value chain access; and constraints affecting the viability of the small business community.

Commenting on his appointment, John James said that he was humbled by the privilege and honour to serve as advisor to the Minister and the nation in this high priority sector. "I firmly and passionately believe that our country's economic development and success, as a thriving democracy, will depend significantly on the pace at which small enterprises, particularly black enterprises, integrate and become involved in the mainstream economy", said James. "My focus will be on improving the environment and space in which large corporations can play a leading role in supplier diversity through increased targeted procurement and enterprise development focused on black suppliers. We have to move our thinking and practices beyond BEE compliance to doing this based on sound business reasons. A nation that does not use a significant part of its talent cannot thrive. A corporation that does not have suppliers representing its market and citizen base cannot win against its competitors. Developing black suppliers without giving them opportunities is wasteful and counter-productive."

 

01 Mar 2010: Chamber of Commerce Vows to Help South Africa Meet Diversity Goals

Many foreign companies wish to do business in South Africa while also investing as required in the country’s black economic empowerment (BEE) objectives. But BEE legislation, designed to help black entrepreneurs and workers overcome the legacy of apartheid and enter the business mainstream, can be prohibitive to the greater business community. So can other barriers to trade.

These issues took center stage last week at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg, during the American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa’s 32nd Annual General Meeting. ECIAfrica, a partly owned subsidiary of DAI, sponsored the meeting, which convened more than 100 business leaders. U.S. Ambassador Donald Gips delivered the keynote remarks.

Ambassador Gips told attendees that removing barriers to trade in South Africa was a main focus of the embassy, adding that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) welcomes ideas from Chamber members on how to improve the business climate. Compliance with the country’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act of 2007 and the crafting of equitable labor laws are chief concerns of both domestic and foreign businesses, as well as the country’s labor force.

The Chamber vowed at the meeting to continue its consultations on these issues with the country’s Department of Trade and Investment, appreciative that South Africa’s diversity initiatives strive to create and develop enterprises, prompt investment, empower black women and youth, and improve the skills and education of the labor pool, with the ultimate aim of enabling sustained growth.

To comply with South Africa’s B-BBEE scorecard, businesses operating in the country are required to invest for black laborers and businesses in the areas of ownership, management control, skills development, preferential procurement, enterprise development, and socioeconomic development. Denis Gallagher, Managing Director of ECIAfrica, noted that ECIAfrica designs and implements solutions around the procurement and economic development portions of the scorecard.

ECIAfrica's highly successful, USAID-funded South African International Business Linkages (SAIBL) program, currently in its ninth year, has just facilitated the creation of a South African Supplier Diversity Council (SASDC), whose member corporations work together to leverage resources and share knowledge, experience, and best practices in supplier diversity development.

“The member corporations of SASDC will commit to opening up more opportunities for black suppliers, whom they will certify, and where necessary also invest in the development of the certified suppliers,” Gallagher said, adding that the council is modeled after the acclaimed, New York-based National Minority Supplier Development Council.

Attendees at the Chamber meeting included some of the largest companies doing business in South Africa, including Coca Cola, Hewlett Packard, Nike, Cummins, GM, Estee Lauder, The Bank of New York Mellon, Hyatt Regency, Motorola, 3M, and Deloitte.

“ECI designs and implements solutions around procurement,” Gallagher said in his closing remarks. “For all of you who grapple with procurement and economic development as part of your [BB-BEE] scorecard, please know we can customize a solution to suit your needs.”

26 Feb 2010: ECIAfrica Developing a Tourism Master Plan for the Free State

ECIAfrica has been contracted by the Free State Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DETEA) to develop a Tourism Master Plan. The assignment seeks to integrate the three tourism strategies that the DETEA has developed into a Blue Print for the management and development of Free State tourism. The Master Plan attempts to harmonize and streamline roles and responsibilities of key role players in Free State tourism, outline strategic activities to be undertaken to realize growth objectives set out in the tourism strategies, and provide a framework for the implementation of the provincial tourism strategy. ECIAfrica has already contributed significantly to the development of the tourism industry in South Africa through the management of the Tourism Enterprise Programme under the Business Trust and the Department of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, growing the revenue contribution of small, medium and micro enterprises by more than R2.1 billion. In developing this Master Plan for the Free State, ECIAfrica draws on its experience in the tourism industry within South Africa and the region in the belief that it has immense value to add to this assignment.

 

17 Feb 2010: ECIAfrica Bids Farewell to MD Job Mokgoro

ECIAfrica is sad to announce that during the past holiday period Prof Job Mokgoro reflected on the next steps in his professional life and has decided to move on from direct day-to-day engagement with ECIAfrica as the Managing Director. He has an outstanding history of service in South Africa that is closely aligned with ECIAfrica's development philosophy. He served as ECIAfrica's Managing Director until the end of 2009. With a Masters and Honorary Doctorate in public administration from the University of Toledo, Job served with the University of Bophuthatswana for 10 years before becoming a lecturer at the University of the Western Cape. Since 1994, he has played a significant role in the transformation of South Africa. In January 1994, he moved to the Development Bank of Southern Africa, where he was the Associate Director of the Centre for Policy Analysis and Information. In April of the same year, he became the first Director-General of the North West Province where he managed a R7 billion budget and was tasked with rationalising and integrating three government administrations into one North West Province. From the end of 1999 until January 2003, Job served as the Director-General of the South African Management Development Institute. Since then, until January 2006, he was the Managing Director of Job Mokgoro Consulting where he focused on issues of local government development, intergovernmental relations, and institutional transformation. Job has published widely in the areas of public management, public policy, and public-sector transformation. He will remain a senior adviser, shareholder, Board member, and friend of ECIAfrica and we wish him well in his various professional and intellectual pursuits over the coming years.

 

■ 10 Feb 2010: ECIAfrica to Develop a Macroeconomic Model for Swaziland

ECIAfrica has been appointed by the Ministry of Economic Development and Planning in Swaziland to develop a macroeconomic model. This twelve month project will be undertaken in collaboration with the African Institute for Economic Modelling at the University of Pretoria. The contract value is US$255,298.00 and is funded by the World Bank.

 

■ 29 Jan 2010: Call for Entries: 2010 South Africa SMME Awards Competition

Do you own/manage an established small, medium or micro enterprise (SMME)? Is the business older than two years and is the business idea original and do you contribute positively to the image of business in Africa? If so, you may be in line to be honoured as the top SMME in South Africa.

The Africagrowth nstitute is calling for entries and SMMEs can enter in any one of the sector award categories. Please visit www.africagrowth.com to enter.

 

■ 14 Jan 2010: Statement by ECIAfrica on the Earthquake in Haiti and the Safety of DAI Staff

ECIAfrica joins people around the world in mourning the death and destruction in Haiti following yesterday’s devastating earthquake.  We send our profoundest condolences to the people of Haiti.

As as a partly owned subsidiary of DAI, our thoughts and prayers go out to our friends, collaborators and employees of DAI’s current project, Haiti DEED (Economic Development for a Sustainable Environment).  Efforts to locate and account for all our fellow employees in Haiti are still under way but the DAI staff for whom we have been able to account for are safe.

Haiti DEED’s Chief of Party, Mike Godfrey, yesterday gave CNN an eyewitness account of the earthquake and its aftermath from Port-au-Prince.  View the video here.

ECIAfrica stands ready to assist in the relief and recovery effort in support of DAI, as well as our friends and colleagues in Haiti.

For more information, contact ECIAfrica onTel: +27-11-602-1200 or Email: info@eciafrica.com

Issued by the Office of the Managing Director
ECIAfrica (Pty) Ltd
Johannesburg, 14 January 2010

 

■ 7 Jan 2010: ECIAfrica Organizing Business Council to Promote Black South African Suppliers

ECIAfrica, a partly owned subsidiary of DAI, is playing a key role in the establishment of the South African Supplier Diversity Council (SASDC), which will link black-owned small enterprises in South Africa to larger corporations and their supply chains.

The SASDC will integrate the country’s growing pool of previously under-used and marginalized black suppliers using targeted procurement and enterprise development, joining them in sustainable ways with potential buyers in South Africa and abroad.

The SASDC start-up will be championed and managed by the National Business Initiative, in partnership with the U.S. National Minority Supplier Development Council Inc. (NMSDC), with initial support from theECIAfrica led South African International Business Linkages (SAIBL) program, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development. The SASDC will draw its membership from corporations based or operating in South Africa, and be funded by member subscriptions and services fees.

“We are confident the SASDC will create and nurture outstanding and profitable business relationships for both entrepreneurs and their corporate customers,” said John James, the SAIBL chief of party. “South Africa already has a sound business infrastructure and enabling environment. This council will speed up the participation of black entrepreneurs in the mainstream economy.”

The SASDC will be modeled after the NMSDC, a New York City-based U.S. corporate membership organization with nearly 40 years of experience in promoting and facilitating supplier diversity. The NMSDC has previously helped found organizations in Canada, the United Kingdom, China, and Australia that link historically-excluded populations and corporate purchasers to create mutually beneficial economic partnerships.

“Economic empowerment is one of the great equalizers,” said NMSDC President Harriet R. Michel. “I hope the SASDC will enhance economic integration and stability through black business development.”

National Business Initiative CEO Andre Fourie said that the establishment of the SASDC reinforces his organization’s commitment to equitably promote South Africa’s economy and job creation opportunities.

“South African corporations are exploring meaningful ways to support transformation that will enhance their competitiveness and sustainability, and underpin the stability of this young democracy,” Fourie said. “We need to deal with the ongoing economic consequences of the apartheid era, while ensuring that we become globally competitive.”

 

■ 7 Jan 2010: ECIAfrica to Sponsor the 2010 AGM of the American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa

ECIAfrica is sponsoring the Annual General Meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa (AmCham). The meeting takes place at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton on 18 February 2010. The keynote speaker is US Ambassador Donald H Gips.

AmCham is affiliated to the US Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation which represents nearly 3 million businesses of every size and which is based in Washington DC.