Key to growth

THE Black Business Council unveiled its plan of action to redress past economic imbalances and place black business at the centre of an inclusive economy.

BBC president Ndaba Ntsele, in the strongest statement from the organisation to date, called for the hastening of the creation of a ministry for small business. He said the organisation had engaged with government to align their thinking and to act in unison.

His words were echoed by President Jacob Zuma when he told delegates that the government supported the plans presented by the BBC.

Ntsele says: "If we are serious about the role of small business in growing the economy and creating the badly needed jobs, we must act decisively on this matter. This will also lay the foundation for our plans of creating black industrialists in the short term.

"We are mindful of the fact that going this route requires a change of mindset to move away from the culture of the individual business to the formation of cooperatives and black conglomorates," says Ntsele.

The BBC used its second annual summit, held at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand on Thursday to launch its flagship programme, the re-industrialisation of the economy focusing on creating large black businesses.

CEO Xolani Qubeka says it is imperative that urgent steps be taken by black business to mobilise all resources, including the support of government and development finance institutions.

"The theme of the summit is intended to heighten the consciousness of everyone in the country about the urgency to bring black business to play a meaningful role at the centre of an inclusive national economy," says Qubeka.

The BBC's secretary, Sandile Zungu, says they set themselves the goal of uniting black business.

In striving to achieve that goal, the BBC has developed some key objectives. These include:

creating congruency and coherence in the message that comes from black business on the issues of the political economy,

becoming and really behaving like a proper motive force of the revolution, and

upping the ante on the matter of the discourse around the economy.