Summary:

• This event empowers businesses to reach their full potential and play a greater role in our economy
• The City’s Supplier Development Programme was offered to 45 vendors, 51% or more black-owned businesses
• 10 candidates completed the programme and had an opportunity to pitch to public-private sector procurement and supply chain management professionals who were part of the conference
• Businesses received certificates for participation in the programme, cash prizes as well as mentoring and coaching sessions
• Ms Shariefa Osman, the owner of Ossies Printing and Exquisite Stationery was a former participant in the City’s Smart Supplier Programme. She was acknowledged for her achievement in breaking down barriers and serving as a source of inspiration to other female entrepreneurs
• For the financial year ending 30 June 2018, the City is pleased to report that approximately 95,76% (equating to over 204 000 purchase orders) were placed with BBBEE-compliant vendors. This figure is up from 92,7% for the 2016/17 financial year

​​​​​​The City is a proud partner of this event as it underpins our commitment to enhancing economic inclusion and empowering businesses to reach their full potential, to play a greater role in our economy and to create much needed jobs for our communities.

In the run up to the conference, the City implemented the Smart Supplier Programme, which will be the fourth instalment of the programme for this year.

Upwards of 51% of the participants in the programme were black-owned businesses identified from the City’s vendor database thus contributing to the City’s supplier development of Level 1 and 2 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) compliant businesses. This year, we focused on fleet management.

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The programme was offered to 45 vendors and 25 confirmed participation.

The programme takes businesses through four days of workshops on improving their service offering and delivery, understanding how public and private sector procurement decision processes work, how to respond to quotes, tenders, sales, pitch preparation, negotiations and contracting and customer relationship management.

This is in preparation for suppliers to be introduced to buyers in their sector of business.

For the 10 candidates who completed the programme they had an opportunity to pitch to public-private sector procurement and supply chain management professionals who were part of the programme today.

I was pleased to learn that the businesses will receive certificates for participation in the programme, cash prizes as well as mentoring and coaching sessions. After the conference, they will also be introduced to procurement and supply chain management professionals to enable businesses to explore further opportunities and access new markets.

In previous years, participants in the City’s Smart Supplier Programme have achieved great success and landed new business and contracts through the networking opportunities offered through the attendance of this conference.

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At this juncture, it gives me great pleasure to highlight the success of a former participant in the City’s Smart Supplier Programme, Ms Shariefa Osman who is the owner of Ossies Printing and Exquisite Stationery.

• I would like to acknowledge and congratulate Ms Osman on her fine achievement. She has broken down barriers and serves as a source of inspiration to other female entrepreneurs. As a participant in the Smart Supplier programme she received advice and assistance on how to navigate the tender document process. Today, Shariefa services some of the country’s top insurance companies as well as the City of Cape Town.

This speaks to our commitment to building an opportunity city, which focuses on economic inclusion and maintaining a strong focus on transformation in our supply chain management processes.

For the financial year ending 30 June 2018, the City placed approximately 95,76% (equating to over 204 000 purchase orders) with BBBEE-compliant vendors. This figure is up from 92,7% for the 2016/17 financial year.

This demonstrates the City’s commitment to redressing past injustices and facilitating economic transformation.

As part of our commitment to promoting economic inclusion and economic empowerment, the City is implementing enterprise and supplier development programmes which are targeted at improving the competitiveness of City vendors and offering access to new markets through the supplier database. The City forges partnerships with support organisations to develop suppliers to meet entry conditions and contractual obligations for City procurement opportunities.

To ensure that businesses reach their full potential, we are also working to improve the ability of City vendors to access and better compete for public and private supply chain opportunities. We achieve this every year by implementing the Smart Supplier Programme in the lead up to this conference. The aim is to capacitate City vendors by arranging the opportunity for the Top 10 of these businesses to meet with corporate buyers.

A number of smart supplier programme vendors over the past four years have gone on to win contracts with a number of corporates beyond the City thus accessing new markets.

The City also has a business hub helpdesk which responded to 1 129 enquiries from SMMEs and entrepreneurs during the previous financial year and actioned and resolved over 88% of enquiries within two working days.  

We are moving from talk to action to make sure that Cape Town is the go-to City for investment, business growth and job creation and taking the economy to the next level. It is my hope that all stakeholders at the conference will forge new connections and work together to ensure that we are the drivers of the Africa Rising narrative.

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