Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko
Information and communications technology (ICT) major Telkom on Thursday unveiled its new R100-million plus programme to incubate and develop starting up and existing entrepreneurs and small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs).
The ‘FutureMakers’ programme would bolster enterprise and supplier business development at scale, offering SMMEs access to much-needed funding, business development opportunities, all-important access to technology, long-term support and mentoring and access to incubators and innovation hubs.
“Telkom seeks to support ICT innovation, improve access to technology for SMMEs, create sustainable businesses in the ICT sector and, as a result, grow employment,” Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko said of the end-to-end ecosytem that would start with support for up to 100 entrepreneurs in townships.
Telkom would inject R100-million seed capital over a five-year period into a special purpose fund, FutureFund – independently managed by black female-owned fund management company Identity Development Fund – to extend financial support to SMMEs that supply Telkom or that work within the broader ICT sector.
FutureFund, which would provide support in the form of loans or equity to the value of between R250 000 and R10-million for expansion or start-up purposes, formed one of four pillars of development as Telkom moved to create “future-ready” businesses.
The programme, in line with Telkom’s enterprise and supplier development aims, would also invest in and harness the competitiveness of local suppliers and partners, potential suppliers, third-party distributors, Internet cafes and innovative ICT start-ups through the FutureSource initiative.
Creating a link to opportunities across the value chain, entrepreneurs attached to the FutureSource initiative would receive business development support, mentoring and training from “some of South Africa’s top SMME development providers", explained Telkom chief procurement officer Ian Russell.
“[Currently,] more than 40 suppliers have been assessed for the programme, with business plans prepared for shortlisted beneficiaries … [and] several third-party distributors have been assessed for the programme,” Telkom said.
The JSE-listed telecommunications giant was also currently establishing business incubation services – or FutureHubs – to provide a platform for stimulating innovation and technology uptake, reduce start-ups costs for new business and encourage a collaborative environment for developing enterprises.
At the Bandwidth Barn, in Cape Town, Telkom was introducing a new programme to source, develop and support high-innovation businesses to generate more than 20 high-technology business ideas in the ICT sector, of which at least five would be bankable.
The group was also undertaking a R5-million upgrade of a coworking and incubation space in the Tshimologong precinct, in Braamfontein, which would become Gauteng’s first business incubator for the ICT industry when completed in November.
Another five to six incubation hubs were in the pipeline, said Russell.
The fourth and final pillar of the FutureMakers programme, FutureProof, would provide opportunities to collaborate with “like-minded” partners focusing on ICT innovation.
“Telkom is actively partnering with other [ICT innovation-focused] organisations … which will contribute hardware, software, skills and capabilities to create sustainable jobs within SMMEs and help grow their revenue and market penetration,” the company pointed out.
Cisco and Telkom had teamed up to develop and capacitate black-owned ICT SMMEs with high-end skills to increase their competitiveness and help them expand, while Microsoft and Telkom planned to leverage their respective platforms to support start-up and growing businesses for up to five years.
Other partners included SAP and Accenture.