“A vision on its own is not enough. Hard work and
dedication is required to make that vision a reality.”

Strive Masiyiwa, Econet Wireless, Zimbabwe

“In terms of expansion, I strongly believe in organic
growth as there is nothing more motivating or satisfying…
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to dream big, but start small.”

Zainab Ashadu, Zashadu Bags, Nigeria.

“Businesses that are spoilt with too much capital
make the wrong decisions… Constraints are the
most wonderful things in business, because constraints
allow you to be innovative and come up with
different solutions.”

Michael Jordaan, MonteGray Capital, South Africa

“I believe we can create new opportunities for
[SMEs] by linking them up with larger enterprises,
through industry clusters. Since a large number of
employers in the [SMEs] sector are informal
family-owned businesses, they can be trained to
become more proficient through various
capacity building initiatives.”

Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the National Committee on Job Creation, Nigeria

“Africa is a youthful continent that is plagued by a
high unemployment rate, particularly amongst Millennials.
Entrepreneurship has long proven to be the best
alternative to bettering one’s life. Building a
business that not only progresses the entrepreneur,
but also the community that the business operates
in, is the greatest solution to reducing
unemployment in any economy.”

The Motsepe Foundation, South Africa.

NEWS

All About SME's12 Different Finance6 SME Support Centre21 Uncategorised8

Call for Applications

12 Jun 2022

As SME TradeLinks, we are proud to announce our 2022 Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) SMME Incubation Programme and invite Gauteng-based SMMEs that provide goods and services to the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) sector of the tourism industry to apply for participation in this fully funded incubation programme. Our 2022 ESD Incubation Programme…

SME TradeLinks Holds Graduation Event for 2021 Incubator Cohort

27 Jan 2022

Wow! We had so much fun at the SME TradeLinks 2021 Incubator Graduation Event that was held at the Imbizo Shisanyama Restaurant at the Mall of Thembisa on 27 January 2022. The event culminated in a certification ceremony during which each of the entrepreneurs who participated in the programme was awarded a Certificate of Completion.…

SME TradeLinks Delivers UNWTO Branding Workshop for Tourism SMMEs

14 Jun 2021

SME TradeLinks Delivers UNWTO Workshop on Branding What an honour it was for https://www.smetradelinks.co.za/ to deliver a workshop on 14 June 2021 in #Windhoek, #Namibia on the Importance of Sstrategising and Branding for Small Tourism Businesses in Africa in the Context of the Global Covid-19 Pandemic! The one-day workshop was part of a two-day conference on building #BrandAfrica which brought together…