It promotes collaboration among public and private ecosystem stakeholders to become that 'one-stop-shop' repository for information, opportunity, and networks. The event was hosted by South Africa's Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and Small Business Development, in collaboration with the World Bank. As part of the programme, about 14 start-up entrepreneurs pitched their innovative ideas for possible funding, mentorship, coaching, and networking opportunities. Speaking at the launch, the DSI director-general, Phil Mjwara said creating a very vibrant start-up community and supporting young entrepreneurs who have ideas to build their businesses was extremely important, adding that as a government this was an important contribution to the support provided to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to develop and manage this innovation portal. “The portal is expected to be a catalyst in enabling entrepreneurs and innovators to thrive, promoting economic growth and job creation in South Africa and its neighbouring countries,” he said.
Over the past months, the Innovation Bridge team engaged various ecosystem partners in providing targeted support for underserved entrepreneurs through a hybrid business incubation training and mentorship programme that allowed entrepreneurs to reflect and critique their respective business models and identify and address skills and knowledge gaps systematically. Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, World Bank Country Director for Eswatini, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa said the Innovation Bridge would expand further and also highlighted the importance of government whilst establishing seed financing facilities to provide much-needed support to these early-stage businesses. “This is certainly possible in the Southern African region given the wealth of talent and resources in the ecosystem,” Marie-Nelly said. Deputy Minister of Small Business and Development Sdumo Dlamini said small businesses were at the centre of SA's economic recovery and that the government was working hard through the presidency to reduce red tape in doing business in South Africa.
