FNB is once again embarking on a series of interactive engagements with entrepreneurs across South Africa’s biggest townships. Launched in 2017, the initiative is part of the bank’s ongoing engagements with small businesses that operate within townships, to unlock mutual value in this “unseen” economy.
The theme for this year is ‘how can township entrepreneurs future-proof their businesses?’. The theme is mostly relevant in the context of the local economy as small businesses are particularly vulnerable to the prevailing economic conditions in South Africa, where the country has seen limited to negative growth.
Jesse Weinberg, Head of the SME Segment at FNB Business says, “South African townships have always been a hive for entrepreneurial activity, but the main challenge has been unlocking the potential to generate broader economic benefits for both the communities that they operate in, and for South Africa as a whole. In these sessions FNB will strive to educate and equip entrepreneurs with valuable insights, tools and knowledge that will hopefully assist with future-proofing their businesses.”
This year’s engagements will kick-off at KwaMashu (Kwa-Zulu Natal) on 12 November, Soweto (Gauteng) on 14 November, Alexandra Township (Gauteng) on 15 November and concludes at Khayelitsha (Western Cape) on 16 November.
The speaker line-up for these events includes:
- Stafford Masie: Technology Entrepreneur, will talk about “Digital trends and disruption for businesses”.
- Mummy Mthembu Fawkes: Founder of the haircare range, Earthy, will talk about ”Your business in the eye of the millennial”.
- Anton Van Metzinger: Head of Digital Platforms, FNB Business Banking, will talk about “The journey of FNB as a digital Bank”. Earlier this year FNB launched ‘switching with a selfie’, which allows businesses to easily open a business account by using a selfie for the identification process.
“Over and above these townships engagement events, we remain committed to investing in and finding ways in which we can help support and grow entrepreneurs based in townships. We will be using this week to launch some exciting new products specifically intended for this market, as well as inviting attendees to be part of the planned pilot of further offerings that will be announced over the coming weeks and months. We are particularly excited to invite actual businesses to be involved in our product development process to ensure we deliver solutions that can really help increase the success of South African entrepreneurs.” concludes Weinberg.
Recently, FNB Business was once again voted “SA’s Best Business Bank” for the sixth year in a row according to the Sunday Times annual survey. The bank continues to pioneer in providing meaningful digital solutions for entrepreneurs, which include Instant Accounting software which is offered for free with a business current account, as well as business registration solutions with CIPC.
