Woza Online attracts 11 000 websites

Thousands more are expected to sign up in the coming months. This was announced at a roadshow in Durban, showing businesses in the city that having an online presence can expand their customer base.

"There is clearly a strong appetite among SMEs to get online and take advantage of what the web has to offer," said Luke Mckend, Google SA country manager at the event. "A wide variety of businesses from caterers and nursery schools, to plumbers and bakers, now has websites and they are already seeing more customers requesting their services as a result- it goes to show any business can have a website."

Mckend also announced that Durban will be the first city to help SMEs without their own computers by making computers available at SmartXchange in Durban Central. The eThekwini council donated the computers and the SmartXchange centre will offer this free service, allowing SMEs who don't have access to the Internet to be able to create their own websites.

Also present at the event was KwaZulu-Natal First Lady, Dr May Mashego-Mkhize, who said, "Empowering entrepreneurs to increase their turnovers, raise their business profiles and ultimately create jobs for more citizens is vital to economic change in South Africa. The Woza initiative also helps us to achieve provincial goals such as boosting the tourism industry, creating and supporting sustainable enterprises and strengthening the culture of entrepreneurship."

Google has launched similar initiatives in 23 other countries around the world from the UK, Canada, and Australia to Brazil, Indonesia, France and Poland; bringing 400 000 businesses online over two years. In Africa, the programme was launched in Kenya and Nigeria last year, with these countries seeing over 20 000 businesses going online within the first two months.

For more information, go to www.wozaonline.co.za/