Network Cap40 awards entrepreneurship, investment and social impact

WC Premier Alan Winde (far left) presented the Cap40 awards to entrepreneurs.

Present at the event were Premier Alan Winde, as well as Alderman James Vos and Ian Neilson from the City of Cape Town, representatives from the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce, and various leaders from French Corporates such as EDF or Dassault Systemes.

Awards

Winning the award for ‘Top speaker of the year’ from the Cap40 community was John Sanei.

This award, from the community, singles out the most remarkable speakers committing their time and knowledge to Cap40 regular events taking place at Workshop17 or Alliance Francaise. John Sanei won the award for his keynote delivered at Cap40 May 2019 event at Workshop 17.

Celebrating the contribution to making the province a more sustainable business environment, the Cap40 Sustainability & Smart City award had 3 nominees. The Cape Town French School for its work on receiving various certifications and award in the recycling and sustainable energy and its application in the education process, PayGas for its work on deploying its ‘Pay as you gas’ clean cooking solution in various townships in the Province, and G7 Energies, an energy company that has a pipeline of wind farm development projects across the country.

Cape Town-based startup, PayGas won the Sustainability and Smart City Award.

Recognising the essential social impact dimension of business, the Cap40 Social Enterprise award had 3 nominees.

Social incubator Oribi Village, support by the French Development Agency (AFD), Muzukids, who works to develop underprivileged kids musical talents, and Surf academy Waves for Change.

The award winner was Waves for Change.

In partnership with, and based on research by Wesgro, the Cap40 Trade & Investment award, identifying French business with key investment and job creation in the Western Cape, was won by French Contact Center company, Webhelp, for creating over 350 jobs in the Western Cape and continuously investing in its local business.

The Cap40 Entrepreneur of the Year award was a highly contended race between Thomas Pays, founder of Ozow, Jerome Touze, CEO of Travelstart and chair of YPO Cape Town, Philippe Hoeblich, founder of PayGas, and Leslie Gallaire, founder of the Brand Box agency.

The Cap40 Entrepreneur of the Year award went to Philippe Hoeblich.

Entrepreneurship and partnerships

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said, “It is my pleasure to have attended this remarkable event which celebrates excellence in entrepreneurship and the partnerships we have built in business. Every job created in the province is a step towards growing our economy, which in turn plays a role in preventing crime and enhancing social cohesion. French business has been an important partner for the Western Cape, through its dynamic entrepreneurship network and great initiatives such as French Tech Cape Town, French South African Tech Labs which is based in Century City and through major investments from French companies like Total in the oil and gas sector.”

Adding to this, Alderman James Vos from the City of Cape Town said "A key focus for my department is to improve the ease of doing business, to grow the local economy and create jobs, especially for SMMEs. That is why we support the tech-sector, identified for its high-growth potential, and ensure that they have the skills pipelines they need to make their businesses a success. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the organisers of this event and the great work they are doing to unlock the impressive potential in this vital sector."

Concluding the event, Cap40 Network co-founder and leader of French Tech for Africa, Christophe Viarnaud said “It feels great to gather as a French-South African community focused on business excellence and social impact to celebrate the individuals and organizations which are the pillars of advancing progress in the Province and South Africa. From Corporates to Small businesses, startups and various institutions, the various sectors and components of our community are committed to contribute to a successful South Africa and to make Cape Town a key gateway into investing into the continent. We are grateful to the increasingly strong partnerships enabling the success of the French-South African multiple partnerships ”