Nissan South Africa donates eight vehicles to local entrepreneurs
Written by WOW intern, Laykin Rudolph
Nissan South Africa in partnership with the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) has donated eight vehicles to dynamic South African entrepreneurs to support and advance their businesses.
The vehicles sponsored included, two Nissan NP300 Hardbodys, one NV350 panel van, four NP200 Base models and one NP200 Base+ model.
The Nissan Group of Africa Director of Corporate and General Affairs, Wonga Mesatywa with the NEF CEO Philisiwe Mthethwa handed over the vehicles at an event at Nissan’s headquarters in Rosslyn, Pretoria last Wednesday.
“Small and medium-sized enterprises form the backbone of the South African economy,” said Mesatywa.
“It is estimated that they provide employment to roughly 60 percent of the labour force and account for about 34 percent of South Africa’s GDP. Nissan is in the business of building brands, in producing innovation that excites, and in helping small businesses succeed so that they can continue to create jobs and to support the economy.
“We believe that these eight beneficiaries have built strong business models and we hope that our vehicles can make their day-to-day activities a little easier and a lot more fulfilling.”
The beneficiaries include, The FOSST Discovery Centre at the University of Fort Hare, Khuvena Consultancy CC, Okubabayo (Pty) Ltd., Masefane Trading CC and Dandozest.
The sponsorship targeted black owned companies like Dandozest, which is a 100% black woman-owned catering company; they will use their new vehicle to transport catering equipment. The FOSST Discovery Centre at the University of Fort Hare will use their vehicle to coordinate community-based science projects to enable and encourage youth to follow careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
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“One of the market failures that confront black entrepreneurs is limited own capital, and the acquisition of a valuable asset such as business vehicles goes a long way towards improving productivity and growth,” said Mthethwa.
“That is why the NEF encourages more and more players in the private sector to support enterprise development because it is a direct contribution to inclusive growth. Nissan South Africa must be commended for being a patriotic corporate citizen and embracing the spirit and purport of the BBBEE policy of Government.”