This coincides with South Africa mandating SABTIA to address challenges in the local business incubation and acceleration community.

SABTIA will in the coming days lead a delegation to Dallas, Texas in the United States to sign a strategic partnership with InBIA.

The partnership is geared at developing innovative “co-incubation” models to address challenges of accessing global markets, innovation and investment into Southern Africa.

SABTIA and INBIA will seal the partnership at the latter’s 32nd International Conference on Business Incubation, to be held from Saturday until Wednesday.

INBIA is a global network of incubators, accelerators and other entrepreneurial support organisations.

SABTIA on Thursday celebrated its official relaunch, hosted in partnership with the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA), and the Department of Small Business Development.

It is an independent and private association formed to promote and coordinate business incubation and acceleration in Southern Africa.

Lindiwe Zulu, South Africa Minister of Small Business Development, speaking at the event north of Johannesburg, said incubation and acceleration programmes were particularly important in developing nations, to speed economic growth and transformation.

In his inaugural State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the establishment of a R1 billion (US$83,6 million) fund for primarily township businesses.

Zaid Mohidin, SABTIA Chairman, said critics argued business incubation had limited success in Africa.

He attributed the challenges to lack coordination and failure to localise global models.

“We need to improve capacity and capability within our incubators and develop effective and distinctive sector and regional ecosystems to support them,” Mohidin said.
– CAJ News