SERVING INDUSTRIES THROUGH FINANCE Quarter 3 Publication.pdf · Marketing and Training Officer...

UMTSENTSE NEWSLETTER 2018 Quarter 3 Publication

UMTSENTSE NEWSLETTER | 2018 Quarter 3 Publication

SERVING INDUSTRIES THROUGH FINANCE

National Industrial Development

Corporation of Swaziland

INSIDE

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EDITOR’S NOTE

I N this edition we feature a visit by the new Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade at

the Corporation’s place of business. where the Honorable Minister met with NIDCS Board of Directors, Executive Management and staff. We also highlight the Corporation’s participation at the second annual Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (TIE) Conference. We then look at what went down during the Financiers’ presentation at Siphofaneni.

The past quarter, October-December also saw the commemoration of World Standards Day which was hosted by SWASA at the Royal Swazi Convention Centre, where NIDCS was amongst the attendees. There was also the Global Entrepreneurship Week which took place on 12th to 18th November 2018, and to close the edition, we look at the BOLESWA games that were held in Lesotho. Maqhawe Tfwala Marketing and Training Officer [email protected]

Editor’s note________________________________________________________ 2

Mission, Vision, Objectives ____________________ 3

Honorable Minister Meets NIDCS 4

TIE Conference 5

Financiers’ Presentation 6

World Standards Day Celebrations _______ 7

Global Entrepreneurship Week 8

BOLESWA Social Games 9

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ENJOY!!!!!


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VISION Eswatini’s industrialization frontrunner by the year 2022.

MISSION We invest in projects that are economically and financially viable, technically feasible,

environmentally friendly and have sustainable medium to long term returns and growth effects to Eswatini’s socio-economy.

OBJECTIVES Foster development of Eswatini’s industries towards job creation and global value chain

participation.

Modernize industries through development financing.

Hold Government stocks and shares in any corporation and statutory corporations as may be determined by Government.

Foster economic growth and development through investment in infrastructure, industries, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and specialized industry development funds.


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T he newly appointed Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Senator Manqoba Khumalo met with the Corporation’s Board of

Directors, Executive and Employees on Friday 30th November 2018 at NIDCS Boardroom.

In his remarks, the Minister thanked everyone for their contribution to the Corporation thus far. He then informed employees that he had a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve and that NIDCS was a key part in his plans as the Ministry was already preparing projects for NIDCS to run with.

He encouraged employees to think outside the box and be dynamic. He said employees should not only think of Eswatini but the world at large as there were many opportunities outside the country. The Minister said his vision was to drive

for an export driven economy which is aligned to the mandate which seeks to promote exports and drive imports substitution.

The minister expressed that his role was to create an enabling environment for the Corporation to deliver and that he intends to improve the country’s ranking on the ease of doing business index. This would help attract foreign direct investments into Eswatini.

Mr. Eprahim Hlophe, our Board Chairman then thanked the Minister for sharing his vision and assured him that the NIDCS team was very much capable of delivering as it had only been in the office for two years but had already done a lot.

HONOURABLE MINISTER MEETS NIDCS

Minister Mancoba Khumalo with Principal Secretary Sboniso Nkambule and NIDCS Board of Directors


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TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP CONFERENCE

Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (TIE) conference is an event organized by the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP). The conference was held from the 12th to 13th November 2018 at The George Hotel in Manzini. The TIE conference focuses on attracting Start-ups, SMEs, aspiring entrepreneurs, industry experts and business executives. Hence, it was fitting for the Corporation to take part in this event.

NIDCS was amongst the exhibitors during the two days conference. The purpose of the conference was to; develop the entrepreneurial capacity of participants, create market opportunities for start-ups and SMEs, connect startups and SMEs with industry experts and business executives for advice and/or mentoring, stimulate innovation and angel investment in the country.

The Corporation; interacted with prospective clients, generated projects leads, identified business prospects, created brand awareness and brand visibility. The conference also included panel discussions on the following topics; long-term development planning relating to innovation and entrepreneurship, insight into the development of the start-up ecosystem in Eswatini, Types of financial and non-financial interests of angel investors and many more.

Ms. Nomcebo Fakudze, our Portfolio Investments Executive delivered a presentation on behalf of the Corporation. The presentation was meant to educate the attendees on the NIDCS mandate, available financing options, how to apply for funding and to respond to any questions that the attendees had.

The Corporation’s participation at the event was a success, as the Marketing and Training Officer together with the Statistics and Publications Officer gave more information to attendees at the NIDCS corporate table.


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FINANCIERs’ PRESENTATION

A Financiers’ presentation was hosted by the Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise on 11th October 2018 at Siphofaneni, SWADE LUSIP Offices. In attendance were; NIDCS, Eswatini Development Bank, Nedbank, Eswatini Development Finance Corporation, Standard Bank, AFD and Board Members representing the new companies under the High Value Crop and Horticulture Project (HVCHP).

Each financier was given an opportunity to present about their products and services. Representing the Corporation was Mr. Phumlani Gama, the Projects Appraisal Officer. In his presentation, the officer covered the following topics; NIDCS Mandate, Vision and Mission, Services and Products offered by the Corporation, Credit Monitoring and the requirements for lending.

The presentation was followed by a question and answer session, where the participants posed a number of questions. Some of the participants wanted to know how long it took NIDCS to approve a loan, while others were interested on the minimum and maximum loans that the Corporation could provide.

Phumlani Gama giving a presentation

After the question and answer session, attendees were invited to visit the exhibition area where the Corporation had pitched its gazebo. During this period, the Corporation’s Marketing and Training Assistant interacted with the farmers and also distributed brochures and gave away some promotional items to those that came to inquire.

A farmer posing a question Some attendees inquiring at the gazebo


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WORLD STANDARDS DAY CELEBRATIONS

E swatini Standards Authority (SWASA) is a parastal mandated to promote standards and quality in local industry, commerce and public sector. The

Authority hosted the World Standards Day Celebrations on Tuesday 6th November 2018 at The Royal Swazi Convention Centre.

World Standards Day is celebrated annually on 14th October however, this year the 14th was on a Sunday hence, locally the celebrations were shifted to 6th November 2018. The theme of this year’s celebrations was ‘International Standards and the fourth Industrial Revolution’. The fourth Industrial Revolution is described as the fourth major industrial era since the initial Industrial Revolution of the 18th Century.

The fourth Industrial Revolution is marked by technology breakthroughs in a number of fields, including robotics, artificial intelligence,

nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, the internet of things, 3D printing and fully autonomous vehicles.

On the day, SWASA was celebrating the development of 15 national standards which have been achieved with the assistance of technical experts drawn from different institutions in the country. It was further revealed that SWASA has 50 technical committees however, the celebrations were meant to recognize the work of technical committees under ‘Work Programme Four’ which is responsible for the development of the 15 Eswatini National Standards. Through its Marketing and Training Officer, Mr. Maqhawe Tfwala, the Corporation was represented in commemorating World Standards Day.


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GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEEK

The Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) was celebrated on 12th to 18th November 2018. GEW is an initiative by the Global Entre-preneurship Network which operates a plat-form of projects and programs in 170 coun-tries aimed at making it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business.

Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) is an international organization with its head office in Washington. Locally, we have GEN Eswatini, which is responsible for rolling out programs under the GEN banner. Hence, during the GEW, GEN Eswatini successfully celebrated a number of entrepreneurs, innovators, start-ups and job creators.

As a partner of GEN, NIDCS was involved in the planning's leading to Global Entrepreneurship Week and during the activities. The Corporation was represented by its Marketing and Training Officer, Mr. Maqhawe Tfwala. Worth noting is that the Corporation’s Managing Director, Mr. Muzikayise Dube is a Board Member of GEN Eswatini.

To kick-start the Global Entrepreneurship Week, a launch was held at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade on Monday the 12th November 2018, by Mr. Mluleki Dlamini Director of SMEs. Following the successful launch of the GEW, a number of events took place around the country.

Amongst the events was an award giving event by Inhlanyelo Fund. Inhlanyelo Fund disbursed E175 500.00 to 28 Entrepreneurs at LaMgabhi under Hhukwini Inkhundla. An awards ceremony was also hosted by Junior Achievement Eswatini together with the Royal Swaziland Sugar Corpo-ration. During the Awards ceremony, 4 young Entrepreneurs shared E110 000.00 as start-up grants.

To further celebrate Entrepreneurship in the country, GEN Eswatini collaborated with UNESWA Luyengo chapter of the Global Business Roundtable (GBR) where they hosted a successful panel discussion on Entrepreneurship. There was also a chat session by Start-up Grind Mbabane. The theme of the chat session was inclusion: discovering solutions through access to funding, training, capital and youth mentorship which all fall under the themes of GEN.

On the other hand, Start-up Grind Manzini hosted an event on scaling in a relatively “blue ocean” industry in the Eswatini market. Also to feature on the events was a Speed-Networking session by LULOTE.

The Global Entrepreneurship Week celebrations were a great success. This was revealed during a media briefing held at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade to mark an end of GEW 2018.


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BOLESWA SOCIAL GAMES

On 5th October 2018, we traveled to Lesotho. We traveled as part of a delegation that was representing the Small Enterprises Development Company (SEDCO) during the BOLESWA social games hosted in Lesotho by BEDCO. BEDCO is an acronym for Basotho Enterprises Development Company and had hosted the social games as part of a tripartite agreement between BEDCO, SEDCO and LEA (Local Enterprises Authority).

The games were hosted in Maseru on 6th and 7th

October 2018 and included soccer, netball and volleyball. To kick-start the games, the BEDCO CEO welcomed everyone and expressed her gratitude for finally being able to host the games. The games began with a soccer match between SEDCO and BEDCO. After the soccer-match, there were volleyball and netball games which saw the participation of some of the Corporation’s employees.

Apart from the sporting activities that took place, there was also a welcome braai in the evening. The braai was a welcomed refreshment after a long day of sports and was thus characterized with laughter and dancing.

On the last day of the games, being 7th October 2018, there was a visit to Thaba-Bosiu which is located at about 24 Km east of the Maseru Capital. The excursion involved climbing the mountain to Thaba Bosiu resting place for King Moshoeshoe I. The excursion was followed by community work, where participants donated food parcels and money to a child care center.

To mark the end of the games, a prize giving ceremony was staged at the Thaba Bosiu Cultural Village. The closing dinner began with remarks from the hosts before the issuance of prizes to those that had excelled in the various sports.


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CONTACT US

3rd Floor, North-West Wing

Sibekelo Building, Mhlambanyatsi Road

P.O. Box 9458, Mbabane, H100

Tel: (+268) 2 404 2241/ 3846

Fax: (+268) 2 404 6069

Email: [email protected]

www.nidcs.org.sz

SERVING INDUSTRIES

THROUGH FINANCE

SERVING INDUSTRIES THROUGH FINANCE Quarter 3 Publication.pdf · Marketing and Training Officer...

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