NEWS
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CEO Circle chooses to nurture a
‘national champion’
Black-owned company, BT Industrial, has been
selected from more than 140 of South Africa’s
leading BEE firms to be nurtured over the coming
five years into a ‘national champion’ with yearly
revenues of greater than R500-million.
BT Industrial manufactures high-density polyethylene (HDPE)
pipes and provides an array of complementary services to
customers, including engineering, project management,
quantity surveying, and maintenance solutions. It is
estimated the firm will experience four-fold growth in
revenue during 2019-2020. It was nominated by Endeavor.
The CEO Circle (made up of South Africa’s 50 largest
companies) in early August selected seven medium-sized
black businesses as winners of the inaugural CEO Circle
Entrepreneurs 2019 Award. In addition to BT Industrial,
the list included InnoVent, TSK Interiors, Signcraft Africa,
Siyeza Fine Chemicals, Sentio and Kele Mining Solutions.
All have annual revenues currently of between R50-million
and R100-million.
The selected companies were announced by Gore, who
is also chairperson of the SME Fund, at a ceremony in
Sandton. He said these entrepreneurs have, through hard
work and perseverance, already built solid companies. With
the CEO Circle as a catalyst, they are poised to become
significant players.
While some of the entrepreneurs list access to capital as
key to their future growth, the majority say that access
to markets and mentorship would be considerably more
beneficial. The SME Fund’s Lisa Klein says that to transform
the seven firms into ‘national champions’, the CEO Circle
would provide them with access to decision-makers across
its shareholder base.
In addition, they would be paired with top-level mentors,
including some of South Africa’s most well-known
business personalities such as Stephen Koseff, Michael
Jordaan and Norman Mbazima. The seven finalists would
October 2019 Volume 25 I Number 8
The businesses were selected after a comprehensive
nomination and evaluation process conducted by Endeavor
ScaleUp, under the auspices of the SME Fund. The latter
fund is another CEO Circle initiative that supports small
business development. In total, 143 black-owned firms
were nominated since the scheme’s launch in March, to
be whittled down to 49 after the first round of interviews.
Two more rounds culminated in a final Dragon’s Den-like
final-interview process, during which Discovery CEO Adrian
Gore, Investec joint CEO Fani Titi, Sasol joint CEO Bongani
Nqwababa, and Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub, asked the
leaders of the selected businesses to outline their corporate
visions and strategies and ‘make a pitch’ for further support
from the CEO Circle. This resulted in the final seven winners.
Discovery CEO Adrian Gore.
also receive access to debt and equity capital and tailored
business support.
The CEO Circle intended to repeat the awards process in
2020 and turn it into an annual event. Mid-sized companies
are an important engine of economic growth. The CEO Circle
aims to leverage the enormous power of the SA SME Fund’s
shareholders (top 50 corporates) and fund managers to help
grow these businesses into significant players in the South
African economy. PA
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