Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel has lauded the launch of the pilot phase of a new business portal called Biz Portal by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC).

The single integrated company registration platform will enable entrepreneurs to register a business within a day in South Africa, which is a dramatic improvement on the current turnaround time of 40 days recorded by the World Bank in its ‘2020 Ease of Doing Business’ report.

Patel said South Africa was embracing twenty-first-century digital technologies to make it easier to register businesses.

“The portal is a pioneering and innovative project for government eservices. It will improve the time and ease for young people to start new enterprises.”

Biz Portal should contribute positively in the medium to long term to the ease of doing business in the country by bringing together business-related services from various public entities within the country.

Through its collaboration with the South African Revenue Service, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and the Compensation Fund (CF), the CIPC has made it possible for applicants of private companies to obtain company registration, a tax registration number, domain name registration, a broad-based black economic empowerment certificate, CF registration, UIF registration and a business bank account.

The three-month pilot phase of the system will be strengthened to make provision for other services related to running and maintaining a business.

“From a customer’s perspective, there is no need to visit multiple government institutions, saving time and money. Such seamless registration services will enable entrepreneurs to focus on transforming innovative ideas into beneficial products and services, which will contribute to the creation of jobs in our country,” Patel said.