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Competitiveness showcased at Business Awards

SA Premier Business Awards

On the evening of Thursday 9 April, the Department of Trade and Industry, in partnership with Brand South Africa and Proudly South African, co-hosted the 3rd annual South African Premier Business Awards in Johannesburg at the Sandton Convention Centre.

South African Premier Business Awards

Brand South Africa would like to congratulate all the enterprises that entered this year’s South African Premier Business Awards. The Awards recognise business excellence and honours enterprises that promote the spirit of success, innovation and job creation.

Prominent commercial brands with strong reputations support a positive nation brand and it is for this reason that Brand South Africa is involved with the South African Premier Business Awards. We need to consider whether we are competitive in terms of being able to grow a nation that can compete equitably with global peers and if we are growing individual brands with solid reputations that are considered as leaders in their individual industries.  This is crucial to being able to deliver on our mandate to position South Africa as a reliable and attractive destination for inward investment.

As the reputation management agency for the country, Brand South Africa is mandated to develop – in conjunction with other stakeholders – and articulate the value proposition for South Africa and why the country is an attractive investment destination.

The companies that entered the awards have demonstrated the strides they are making towards developing an economy that will encourage job creation, and for this we commend them.  They are part of the good story we have to tell and directly contribute to positioning South Africa as an attractive investment destination.

We congratulate the following award recipients: Dr Anna Mokgokong (Lifetime Achievement), Hazleton Pumps International (Manufacturer), Canvas and Tent (Exporter), Ekurhuleni Artisans & Skills Training Centre (Women-Owned Business), DNA Brand Architects (Young Entrepreneur), CCI Call Centres (Investor of the Year), Little Green Number (Proudly South African Enterprise), Access Advertising (Play Your Part) and Hazleton Pumps International (SMME).

Brand South Africa’s Play Your Part Award went to Access Advertising. This award aims to celebrate enterprises that excel in displaying active citizenship and nation building in South Africa. The Play Your Part Award recognises those that inspire all South Africans to contribute towards positive change within their communities. Congratulations once again to Access Advertising for playing their part in shaping South Africa’s development.

Play Your Part is a nationwide programme created to inspire, empower and celebrate active citizenship in South Africa. It aims to uplift the spirit of our nation by inspiring all citizens to contribute to positive change, become involved and start doing. A nation of people who care deeply for one another and the environment in which they live is good for everyone.

The South African government has put measures in place to assist small enterprises to enter the market and this has been proven in the finding of the 2015 Ease of Doing Business report. The report indicates that South Africa improved in a range of indicators including starting a business. The calibre of entrants into the South African Premier Business Awards attests to the fact that government interventions in supporting commercial enterprises – big and small – are indeed effective.

The recipient of the Lifetime Achievement, Dr Anna Mokgokong, is an example of a South African who has played their part in contributing to South Africa’s economic development and assisting start-up enterprises. Dr Anna Mokgokong, voted as one of the leading women entrepreneurs in the world in 1998, is the one of only five women in South Africa to have received this prestigious award. Dr Mokgokong has been actively involved in mentoring of upcoming entrepreneurs in community projects aimed at uplifting economic conditions and for this Brand South Africa salutes her.

South Africa’s global competitiveness is our collective responsibility and it is in line with the National Development Plan, we need to begin to collectively respond to creating the conditions that improve our competitiveness. Awards such as the South African Premier Business Awards highlight the strides we’ve made, and continue to make, in economic development. We look forward to next year’s Awards and to honouring more champions of economic transformation. – SAnews.gov.za