City of Cape Town began receiving applications for Cape Town-Based Businesses to participate in the much-anticipated Smart Supplier Programme. The programme is running in the city for more than eight years.
The Smart Supplier Programme launched by the City of Cape Town aims to support and develop local businesses. The objective is to equip them with the skills to work successfully with corporate supply chains.
Moreover, the 2025 edition of the businesses programme will take a targeted approach and will focus on buyer-seller linkages.
Considering the popular programme, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Growth and Tourism – Alderman James Vos said that this has become one of the most popular courses offered by the Business Hub. Last year, the city recorded the participation of 300 SMMEs.
According to James Vos, not only do the participants get a masterclass in buyer readiness, but they are then able to put those newly acquired skills to the test in a match-up session with potential clients.
Vos added further to his statement that, during the last year sessions, the City of Cape Town recorded a wonderful responsive and well engaged participation of the business owners, where they learnt and built their brands.
“To see them making connections with other businesses across the industries and with major corporations was really inspiring,” expressed Alderman James Vos.
Notably, to qualify for the Smart Supplier Programme, the businesses must meet some essential criteria, which are as follows:
- The businesses must be based in Cape Town and should be owned by a South African citizen.
- It should be operational for a minimum of 18 months.
- Should be Exempted Micro Enterprises – businesses with an annual turnover of less than R10 million.
- Should be Qualifying Small Enterprises – businesses with an annual turnover between R10 million and R50 million.
- The businesses should be able to handle increased market demands and must have a competitive advantage in the market they trade in.
- The entrant must be a registered City of Cape Town Vendor.
- The entrant must be willing to attend online training sessions and should be able to join physical networking buyer matchup sessions.
The last date of submitting the applications is Friday, Feb 28, 2025. The applications should be submitted after filling out the complete details.