As the National Business Initiative (NBI) marks 30 years, CEO Shameela Soobramoney has found herself reflecting on how closely the organisation’s journey mirrors that of South Africa itself. She writes here about the importance of working collectively to create broader access, greater dignity and more meaningful economic participation for all.

The NBI was founded in 1995, at a defining moment in our country’s history. South Africa was a young democracy emerging from a deeply exclusionary past, trying to build not only a new political system, but a more inclusive economy and society.

Three decades later, many of the challenges remain familiar: unemployment, inequality and poverty continue to shape the lives of millions of South Africans. Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey places South Africa’s official unemployment rate at 32.7%, with more than 300 000 jobs lost in the first quarter of the year alone. These are not simply economic indicators; they represent unrealised potential, growing frustration and millions of South Africans still excluded from meaningful participation in the economy. But one lesson has become increasingly clear over time: sustainable progress requires collaboration, institutional capacity, accountability and long-term commitment. No single institution can solve South Africa’s challenges alone.

Government cannot carry the burden of development in isolation. Business cannot thrive in a society under strain. Civil society cannot drive systems change without broader support. Real progress depends on partnership and shared accountability.

This understanding has shaped the NBI’s role over the past 30 years.

We have never viewed business purely through the lens of profit or economic growth alone. Business has a massive multiplier effect in society. Every decision around investment, hiring, supply chains or infrastructure has broader social consequences. That is why creating platforms where business, government and civil society can engage honestly and work towards common goals remains so important.

Crucially, collaboration is not about avoiding difficult conversations. South Africa’s history requires us to be deliberate about inclusion. Exclusion shaped our economy for generations and inclusion will not happen automatically simply because policies have changed.

We need to ask difficult questions: who still lacks access to opportunity? What barriers continue to prevent meaningful economic participation? How do we create earning pathways for young people in communities where opportunities remain limited and apartheid era spatial planning continues to marginalise?

These are not peripheral issues. They sit at the centre of South Africa’s future growth and stability.

At the NBI, this thinking underpins our focus on sustainable development and inclusive growth. Economic growth is critical, but growth alone is not enough if it benefits only a small part of society. Inclusion must be intentional.

That means thinking differently about how development is designed and having a vision to guide what success looks like.

For example, local economic development needs to respond to local realities. Partnerships between business, government and TVET colleges can help create more relevant skills pathways and access to meaningful earning opportunities for young people. Township economies need to be viewed as central to South Africa’s growth story, not secondary to it. Gender equity, disability inclusion and social inclusion cannot sit separately from economic strategy, they must be embedded within it. Success here is a young person moving from hopelessness and unemployment into a meaningful earning opportunity and skills pathway. It looks like an SME being able to enter a value chain previously closed off to it. It looks like dignity restored through participation in the economy.

Over time, the NBI has evolved into both a convening platform and an implementation partner. We bring stakeholders together around shared priorities, but we also focus on translating dialogue into action.

This implementation role has become increasingly important.

South Africa does not suffer from a shortage of strategies or policy recommendations. Often, the challenge lies in implementation, ensuring that institutions exist with the governance, partnerships and long-term capability required to turn ideas into measurable outcomes.

The recent integration of the NBI’s Technical Assistance and Mentorship Development (TAMDEV) unit into Operation Vulindlela Phase 2 reflects this growing recognition of implementation capacity and capability. TAMDEV has helped deliver real change on the ground at municipal level: from turning communities overrun by sewage into places of pride and hope, helping local municipalities achieve clean audits, playing a bridging role to bring companies closer to communities and co-creating solutions, to offering the skills needed to support the reform agenda and infrastructure challenges.

Strong institutions matter because systems change takes time. It requires consistency, trust and the ability to work across sectors, and with social partners over many years.

One of the NBI’s greatest strengths has been its role as a neutral, trusted and honest broker. We are not a lobbying organisation advocating for narrow interests. Our role is to help align economic priorities with broader positive societal outcomes and to create spaces where stakeholders can work through complexity together.

This trust has allowed the NBI to support work across areas including climate transition pathways, economic inclusion and sustainable development long before many of these conversations became mainstream.

Looking ahead, I believe South Africa’s next phase must focus far more strongly on scaling what already works in relation to the kind of work we have piloted and led.

Across the country there are proven programmes, partnerships and interventions already delivering impact. The challenge now is creating the conditions for those successes to grow and reach more people.

That requires deeper collaboration between business, government, labour and civil society.

One of the tensions we continue to navigate is balancing individual organisational visibility with the need for collective systems change. Individual corporate initiatives matter enormously, but systemic change requires institutions and partnerships that are bigger than any one organisation.

If we want to move South Africa forward meaningfully, we need to invest not only in projects, but in the systems that enable long-term delivery. Looking towards the next decade, the NBI will continue to evolve alongside the challenges and opportunities of the country. It will enhance its role as a thought leader and strategic, neutral broker - an honest bridge between the pressures of the private sector and the priorities of government and civil society.

At the NBI’s 30-year celebration, we reflected on the organisation’s role in convening leaders, enabling partnerships and driving collective action towards a more inclusive and competitive economy.

That mission remains as relevant today as it was in 1995.

Ultimately, South Africa’s future will be shaped not by isolated success stories, but by our collective ability to work together to create broader access, greater dignity and more meaningful economic participation for all. The NBI is committed to investing in helping our great nation achieve the dream we set out to achieve in 1995.