Proudly South African is launching an e-commerce site in partnership with the department of trade, industry and competition (dtic).
The intent is to “bolster public and commercial support for locally manufactured goods and services in line with the drive to ramp up localisation of the economy”.
The two-pronged initiative comprises a business-to-consumer online store named Shop Proudly SA. It will be accompanied by a business-to-business (B2B) online platform, the Market Access Platform (MAP). It will service corporate buyers, helping them meet their localisation targets with access to a database of over 2 000 enterprises spanning diverse industries that have been vetted and accredited by Proudly South African.
“At Proudly South African, we have always sought innovative ways of galvanising public support for local enterprises to enable them to scale up, become globally competitive and create jobs,” said Eustace Mashimbye, chief executive of Proudly South African, in a press release.
Immense potential to overcome barriers
“To that end, we believe that e-commerce has immense potential to overcome traditional barriers to trade and create new opportunities for businesses and consumers alike. Through this intervention, we are harnessing technology as a catalyst for ramping up support for homegrown products and for companies whose manufacturing infrastructure and operations create jobs locally.”
Mashimbye added that the platforms would ensure a seamless process for consumers and supply chain management practitioners to source from local companies while also enabling them to meet their procurement goals.
The launch of these initiatives would mitigate against the high failure rate of small and medium sized businesses in South Africa, said Mashimbye, which has at times been attributed to access to market challenges and has been exacerbated by an increasing challenging economic environment, an influx of cheap imports, and consumer’s rapidly declining disposable income.
Boosting SMMEs
Parks Tau, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) concurred: “These platforms will help boost support for Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and locally manufactured goods and services and create much-needed jobs and grow the resilience of our economy”.
The platforms will give entrepreneurs the ability to expand their market beyond their geographical confines and negate the capital outlay required for a brick-and-mortar outlet. In turn, it enables them to expand their businesses and create employment opportunities across the e-commerce value chain for millions of young people who are swelling the ranks of the unemployed.
Future plans include expanding the transactional online store into a Business to Business platform, and adding export capability to it, with the support of the dtic.
