Department launches newspaper for business

The news coincides with the release of the Nedbank small business index, which shows many small businesses are looking to the rest of Africa to sustain themselves.

The National Development Plan and other policy documents deem small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) as the likeliest source of jobs in the South African economy.

The head of communications and marketing at the department, Clement Manoko, said yesterday that Small Business Connect would be a free, 20-page monthly newspaper that would be uploaded online to www.smallbusinessconnect.co.za.

"We have an editorial team of researchers from the (department) and also professionals from SMEs working with us," Manoko said. "We will also have guest writers and people can also pitch their stories about small business."

A 'waste of time'

But Free Market Foundation executive director Leon Louw questioned the department's ability to manage a newspaper while professional media groups were struggling in print media themselves. "They are wasting time here," he said.

"I still see this as being a propaganda tool for the (department. Its) rhetoric of wanting to support small business is appreciated but there must be follow-through."

The Nedbank small business index released yesterday found that SME owners had singled out cash flow and budget constraints, changes in the economy and rising costs as their main hurdles to expanding their business.

These problems were sending SMEs into other parts of Africa, Nedbank said. "As the South African economy contracts, business owners were looking at expanding into other markets, mostly Africa."

In addition, 29% of the businesses said they already did business internationally, with a further 32% saying they were planning to expand across the borders as well. Of those planning to do business outside SA, "two thirds said they were looking at entering the rest of the African continent, while just 12% plan to do business in Europe," Nedbank said.

Source: Business Day, via I-Net Bridge