Which is SA's most empowered company?

Top Empowerment Companies (TEC) will be the first edition of an annual special issue of the FM. It will list the top 200 empowerment companies, rank the top 20 in each major economic sector and rank the top 25 in each of seven empowerment criteria: black ownership; black management; employment equity; skills development; affirmative procurement; enterprise development; and corporate social investment. The rankings are based on the department of trade & industry's balanced scorecard methodology.

TEC will shatter the myths and hype around empowerment. It will be the first publication to present an accurate picture of the empowerment statistics of all listed companies and to rank them. It pulls no punches - a standard measurement methodology has been applied to all companies. The results will surprise the market.

As SA prepares for its second decade of democracy, a damaging legacy of apartheid - the racialisation of SA's economy - remains a stumbling block. TEC will provide the cold, hard numbers for the first time and will be an important contribution to debates about the integration of the black majority into the economy.

Though much has been published on empowerment, few publications have provided the independent information and thorough research that TEC boasts. Respected empowerment rating agency Empowerdex has undertaken the research into every listed company. The results have been analysed by the FM's team of writers and outside contributors, providing lessons for other companies on successful implementation of empowerment strategies.

TEC will be published as a separate special edition with next week's FM.