Latest news with #SU20
IOL News
22-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
South Africa aims to shape the future of entrepreneurship in global startup ecosystem
Vuyani Jarana, chairperson of SU20, provided a concise overview of the StartUp20 engagement group within South Africa's G20 Presidency, highlighting the country's vast ecosystem. Jarana was speaking at the StartUp20 (SU20) Midterm Engagement Meeting in Ekurhuleni on Monday. Image: Supplied South Africa has positioned itself to take a leading role in shaping the future of entrepreneurship and innovation within the global startup ecosystem. This was revealed on Monday by the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) at the StartUp20 (SU20) Midterm Engagement Meeting as part of the first-ever Global Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) Ministerial Meeting organized by the International Trade Centre, the UN small business agency, in partnership with the South African government. Minister of Small Business Development, Stella Ndabeni, said the Engagement Group was unwavering in its mission to propel innovation, digital transformation, and policy collaboration. Ndabeni said this initiative aims to forge robust connections between global startup communities, ultimately better equipping local enterprises to navigate international markets.'We have identified five priority areas for the StartUp20 Engagement Group. 'First, Foundation and Alliance with the focus on enabling policies, and ways to build a more supportive and resourced eco-system for early-stage entrepreneurs and scale-ups,' Ndabeni said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ 'Second, Finance and Investment with the focus on addressing gaps in early-stage financing, cross-border financing, and ways to derisk investment, for underserved regions and groups like women and youth, including through pre-investment capital readiness support. Third, Inclusion and Sustainability with the focus on circular economy models, green innovation incentives, and pre-investment business support for youth and women led enterprises to improve capital readiness. 'Fourth, Market Access with the focus on facilitating international trade, enabling e-commerce, reforming public procurement systems and supporting regional integration, and fifth, Township and Rural Entrepreneurship with the focus on strengthening local value chains, improving infrastructure and connectivity, and improving access to finance and eco-system support for supporting co-operatives and micro enterprises.' Ndabeni said the establishment of Task Teams composed of both South African and international stakeholders marked a significant step in this collaborative venture, allowing for the exchange of policy recommendations and best practices. These discussions are crucial as they lay the groundwork for a clear action programme to be finalised at the upcoming Startup20 Summit on 13th and 14th November, which will also host the inaugural Startup20 Awards to highlight the best startups and ecosystem enablers from G20 nations. Salome Baloyi, acting chief operations officer and G20 engagement lead coordinator for South Africa's G20 Presidency, shared insights on the StartUp20 initiative. 'Our mission is to empower township and rural communities by breaking down barriers for small businesses, driving structural reforms, and accelerating digital innovation,' Baloyi said. 'We're pushing a bold agenda for startup and MSME development, prioritizing innovation, inclusion, and meaningful participation across all sectors.' Vuyani Jarana, chairperson of SU20, provided a concise overview of the StartUp20 engagement group within South Africa's G20 Presidency, highlighting the country's vast ecosystem. 'South Africa, as a member of the G20, participates in an international forum comprising 19 countries and two regional bodies, namely the European Union and the African Union,'Jarana said. He further noted that the primary objective of this international forum is to enhance multilateral cooperation, with a focus on recovering the global economy, stabilising global financial systems, promoting sustainable long-term growth, and strengthening international economic governance. Nkosi Khumalo, MTN general manager for SME and indirect channels, said they were partnering with various sectors to support small enterprises, drive innovation, and sustainability. 'As the MTN Group, we have invested in 4G and 5G technology to support businesses, developed a fintech platform to support small businesses with insurance capabilities and payment options, and leveraged powerful machines to assist small businesses,' Nkosi said. 'We develop innovation, offer digital skills, and certify businesses to position them for opportunities and contracts, such as those in Information Technology. We are also empowering black female business owners to ensure small businesses stay online.' BUSINESS REPORT
IOL News
20-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
It's Time for Digital Justice
The recent BRICS declaration on artificial intelligence marks a critical shift in the global digital agenda. In their joint statement, BRICS leaders reaffirmed each nation's sovereign right to develop and govern digital technologies, particularly AI, in alignment with domestic priorities and legal frameworks. They called for strengthened capacity-building, robust data governance, and technological autonomy, stating: 'We firmly support the right of all countries to harness the benefits of the digital economy… to develop capacities in AI research, foster technological autonomy and innovation, ensure data protection, and promote their own digital economy.' This affirmation is welcome and timely. Yet, in the face of growing digital inequality, platform gatekeeping, and regulatory imbalance, should we not be thinking about how to move beyond high-level diplomacy toward more tangible, enforceable measures? Perhaps the time has come to complement vision with action and to consider what digital justice might truly look like in practice. Across the Global South, from township entrepreneurs in South Africa to fintech innovators in Latin America, startup ecosystems remain stifled by structural imbalances in the digital economy. The current rules of engagement, largely dictated by dominant platform companies, are neither inclusive nor equitable. As a member of the SU20 Foundation and Alliance Task Force, I believe we must now reimagine global digital governance through a justice lens. This means embedding fairness, inclusion, and startup-led innovation at the core of every digital transformation policy and programme. South Africa has an important role to play. Not only must we advance our domestic innovation ecosystem, but we must also advocate globally on behalf of underserved regions still waiting to be seen, heard, and funded. The SU20 Digital Transformation Workstream outlines a concrete path forward. It proposes that we fund the Startup Fund at scale to enable meaningful participation in the digital economy. Emerging innovators must have access to early-stage, patient capital that prioritises inclusion and impact. It also proposes that we enforce platform compliance through regulatory agencies, ensuring dominant platforms are held accountable through effective, transparent, and independent oversight. Furthermore, the workstream recommends embedding public-private startup labs within digital transformation programmes. These labs can serve as co-creation spaces that bring together government, entrepreneurs, and civil society to solve real-world problems using local insight and scalable technology. Perhaps the most significant contribution of the SU20 agenda is the proposed Digital Competition Compact. This is a landmark framework that introduces new global standards for digital fairness. The Compact establishes that platforms must not be allowed to preference their products over third-party services. It affirms that fair and open API access must be guaranteed, ensuring interoperability and innovation. It further calls for digital procurement processes to be reformed so that startups and emerging market innovators are included as a matter of policy, not exception. This is not an anti-technology stance. It is a pro-market, pro-competition, and pro-equity proposition. When civic technologies or early-stage startups are denied platform access or squeezed out of procurement processes by legacy players, we are no longer operating in a free and fair digital marketplace. We are reinforcing monopolistic behaviour. South Africa has both the moral authority and institutional experience to lead this agenda. As a country that understands the long-term effects of systemic exclusion, we must ensure our voice is prominent in shaping global digital rules. We should be among the first to adopt and promote the Digital Competition Compact. We should build and scale our Startup Fund. And we should institutionalise startup labs as core elements of government-led digital reform. In doing so, we will not only empower our own entrepreneurs. We will inspire a shift in how the global economy values innovation from the Global South. Diplomatic engagement has laid important foundations. But as digital inequalities deepen and platform control tightens, we must now choose justice. Not as an abstract ideal, but as a measurable, enforceable, and globally aligned principle. The digital economy must serve everyone, not just the privileged few. If the next billion internet users are to thrive, they must be empowered as creators, not just consumers. The era of digital diplomacy has passed. This is the era of digital justice. Prof. Eldrid Jordaan is the Founder of GovChat and Suppple PLC, a Professor of Practice at the Johannesburg Business School, and a member of the SU20 Foundation and Alliance Task Force.
