SMME: WOMEN AND YOUTH

The small and medium-sized enterprise (SMME) segment is one of our anchor activities. Simply click JOIN MUNJANI on the website and fill in the application form.

Your SMME association with MUNJANI will either be through a Joint Venture or as a service provider on the MUNJANI database, making your enterprise part of the MUNJANI networks. It is all free of charge.

Women and youth empowerment will in the main be spearheaded through our SMME, WOMEN AND YOUTH DESK, as well as through grass-root community activities initiated and facilitated through the MUNJANI FOUNDATION and the MUNJANI diaspora networks. You win whichever way.

As MUNJANI, we choose this path well informed by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA’s) Secretariat’s position seeking to achieve gender equality and enhancing the export capacity as pursued by women, youth entrepreneurs and business owners to ensure that these groups derive maximum benefit from the AfCFTA.

AfCFTA is on the one hand, a significant milestone on the journey to African integration and development, notes the Secretariat’s “FUTURES REPORT – MAKING THE AfCFTA WORK FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH”, produced in anticipation of trading under AfCFTA terms in 2021. On the other hand it is a catalyst for new ways of doing business, producing, working and trading within Africa and with the rest of the world.

The report notes and demonstrates that beyond the numbers and negotiations, the realization of this promise will depend on decisive actions and the collective efforts of the African people. Concrete policy measures and investments are needed in particular to ensure that women and youth, who account for the majority of the population, business owners and workforce, can be better integrated into the value chains, jobs and opportunities stemming from the AfCFTA.

MUNJANI, in its support for the AfCFTA initiatives, has for its part laid out its own plan of activities, projects and programmes around the SMME segment – particularly with the view of empowering and advancing women and the youth.

The MUNJANI GROUP itself was established to broadly support the operationalization of the Africa We Want initiative by both the African Union and the (AfCFTA) to create a momentum for economic development and intra-African trade – and also to global markets.

In other words we are proudly MUNJANI AFRIKA INVESTMENT CORPORATION (THE MUNJANI GROUP) constituting Africans grouped together and coming from all corners of the African continent and the African diaspora, diverse in skills, talent, knowledge and cultural backgrounds and brought together by our African-ness in our quest to create THE AFRICA WE WANT.

Our partnerships strategy entails working with all relevant players both from the private and public sector, collaborating with carefully selected companies, businesses, governments, international development agencies and society in general.

MUNJANI therefore views itself as a unique driver by virtue of the proposed composition that shares the characteristics of the envisaged large-scale mass events and economic interventions. There is furthermore an added brand exploitation qualities and content showcase that is unprecedented and has
been developed with values that encapsulates the vision of premier brands and initiatives like the new partnership for Africa development (Nepad), the AU, AfCFTA and such other institutions.

MUNJANI’s SMME-centred divisions are mainly around the following areas:

1. INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT, CONSTRUCTION AND PROPERTY
2. LEGAL AND FINANCIAL CONSULTING SERVICES
3. DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, EDUCATION AND LEADESHIP TRAINING DIVISION:
4. MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

5. MANUFACTURING AND TRADE IN SERVICES
6. CULTURE AND HERITAGE
7. FINANCIAL SERVICES AND INVESTMENTS
8. BRANDING AND MARKETING
9. MINERALS & ENERGY
10. BENEFICIATION INDUSTRIES
11. AGRO-PROCESSING, AGRICULTURE & BLUE ECONOMY
12. TRANSPORT, LOGISTICS, DISTRIBUTION & COURIER SERVICES
13. AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRIES
14. TEXTILES, CLOTHING, ARTS AND CRAFTS
15. HEALTH EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES
16. FACILITIES MANAGEMENT, SECURITY & CLEANING SERVICES

We have recognised the market opportunities that lie within the people of African descent within the continent.

All of the ambition is attainable with the right partnerships such as governments (enablers) and big companies (funders and sponsors) who are pertinent partners of such undertakings. In summation, MUNJANI is positioned to realise a grand collaboration that combines business, government and social
investment in its make-up.

Our economic and social reconstruction strategy is founded around and underpinned by three pillars:

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT – MUNJANI as a facilitator, economic and social intervention tool, the thrust of this initiative being SMME development, business networks and linkages. The overall MUNJANI philosophy and objectives are covered broadly on this website.
LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE – to get Africa speak in one voice, figuratively and literally.
MASS EVENTS – festivals, exhibitions, seminars, travel and tourism etc.

The inherent reach-out activities will be underpinned by all forms of PR and other communication strategies. The mass events are also the cornerstone of cultural and heritage exchange programmes, African fashions and foods in support of our support of our social cohesion endeavour.

Having identified the urgent need to ensure the development of the entrepreneurship culture of the practitioners and establish conduits that could guide the business developments of these; MUNJANI has provided a mechanism to address this need.

To this instance, MUNJANI undertakes to project manage the selection, intervention, preparation, participation and follow-up of various continent- wide SMMEs to participate in the development project(s) in partnership with other stakeholders to be identified as we go along.

Partnerships will include international players to facilitate export and investment promotion through the establishment of strategic alliances between the continent and Africans in the diaspora as well as other
international businesses and players.

MUNJANI SMME FACTOR

SMMEs will either be MUNJANI created companies under the MUNJANI brand, or as MUNJANI Anchor Companies or Associate Companies or Companies and entities on the MUNJANI database.
MUNJANI to compile database of SMMEs with established national and continental markets that are considering participating, exporting or are already exporting.
Compile and analyse database of support institutions involved in strategic alliances/business linkages
Analysing growth strategies for SMMEs
Provide technical assistance to SMMEs to develop strategic alliances/business linkages growth strategies
Profiling and positioning of SMMEs for strategic alliances/business linkages
Identifying opportunities linked to strategic alliances
Participating in and organising partnership events
Participating in trade missions, national pavilions and exhibitions
Provide technical assistance during events
Facilitate identification, analysis and due diligence of potential partners
Provide follow up support
Provide cost-sharing financial support to conclude strategic alliances/business linkages through national and international partnership fund
Signpost SMMEs to institutions that provide financial and non-financial support for strategic alliances/business linkages
Facilitate strategic alliances/businesses linkages through info centres
Facilitate access to information on international trade, national and regional incentives, export opportunities, country-by-country market analysis etc.

Through our SMME drive, we will seek to have all the relevant partners on board to be part of all our programmes and projects from the initial phase to get their support as apparent in the developmental aspects of the project(s) and as in our emphasis in engaging in meaningful economic activities and on staging world class events that promote our cultural symbolism to ourselves and to the world at large.

We believe that our SMME initiative will contribute greatly to the moral regeneration and economic advancement of the African people and will assist to integrate our societies in line with the programmes like NEPAD and the AU as well as AfCFTA.

The thrust of our SMME drive will entail:

– Identify SMMEs – especially in the rural communities
– Assist SMMEs establish credible structures
– Assist SMMEs develop their businesses
– Assist SMMEs market their products via our marketing endeavours
– Create opportunities for SMMEs in the corporate sector
– Create opportunities for SMMEs to participate as exhibitors and participants at MUNJANI major events