News report
OFFER
More than $77 billion in IPOs were
announced in the US in 2013, including
Twitter’s 6 November offering, making it the
busiest year since at least 2010.
UPWARDLY MOBILE
than R4,000 a month on rent. Research by
First National Bank (FNB) shows all sectors
of the economy benefit from a growing
middle class, but “the biggest beneficiaries
are likely to be retail (especially luxury and
durable goods), finance, vehicle and the
construction industries”.
To get the report in its entirety, visit
www.unileverinstitute.co.za
19 NEW INCUBATORS
Recently released studies by the University
of Cape Town’s (UCT) Unilever Institute
of Strategic Marketing found that the
black middle class population had grown
to 4.2-million. This increase from the
1.7-million in 2004 goes hand in hand
with increased spending power. The black
middle class spends R400-billion annually,
far more than the R323-billion spent by the
historically wealthier white middle class.
The study classified middle class as
households earning between R15,000 and
R50,000, with their own transport, a tertiary
education, employment in a white-collar job
and owning their home or spending more
The Micro Enterprise Development
Organisation (MEDO) incubator was
opened by the Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI) in November 2013. Housed
at Maboneng in Gauteng, it is the first
youth incubator in the DTI Incubator
Support Programme and will focus on
the information and communication
technology (ICT) sector, as well as
having an Internet TV studio that can
facilitate Internet TV broadcast. There is
capacity for the permanent incubation
of approximately 20 ICT businesses
and virtual incubation across industries,
allowing small businesses to use the
facilities and benefit from the full suite of
shared services. In 2014 MEDO expects
to open 19 incubators to serve the
mining, manufacturing, energy, ICT and
hospitality industries.
For more info, see www.medo.co.za
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