Mbabane: King Mswati has crowned Acero Steel Director Thamsanqa Mdluli as the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2023 Winner.Mdluli walked away with a Toyota GD6 single cab worth over five-hundred and sixty-thousand Rands(R560,000.00) and thirty thousand Rands(R30,000.00)cash. The Toyota GD6 won by Mdluli, was sponsored by the First National Bank(FNB) Eswatini.
His Majesty King Mswati III says he is looking forward to the day a liSwati SME makes their first E1BN through legitimate business. His Majesty has been speaking during the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards last night where Thamsanqa Mdluli of Acero Steel was crowned the overall winner of the awards.
His Majesty said amassing E1BN is an achievable dream, however discouraging MSMEs from engaging in illegal practices and corruption in a quest to reach this milestone. He said if some business people internationally were able to turn around their fortunes during COVID-19, it was also possible for emaSwati to achieve the same.
“We are pleased that the country initiated the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards competition because it inculcates a culture of excellence in doing business. This is why the Government continues to support the recognition of outstanding businesspeople with a view to showcasing their achievements. This also inspires other entrepreneurs to improve management practises in their enterprises.”
“The country’s MSME sector plays a vital role in developing our economy, and it has a great growth potential. It employs approximately 92 000 emaSwati, which represents 21% of the country’s workforce. Furthermore, this sector is playing an active role in wealth creation, reducing poverty and generally improving the livelihoods of Eswatini.”
“Currently, we have approximately 59 000 MSMEs generating a monthly turnover of E92.5 million. This underscores the need to pay particular attention to this sector to ensure that it continues to contribute to employment and the real economy.”
“We are pleased that the Government realised the importance of this sector and established various measures to mitigate the negative impact of the health crisis on small-scale businesses in Eswatini.”
“This includes the roll out of the E45 million MSME Revolving Relief Fund in order to support formal and informal MSMEs that were affected by COVID-19. We have been informed that the fund has assisted over 2 940 businesses, with a total of about E51 million having been disbursed since its launch in 2021.” “We have been informed that MSMEs currently provide an estimated 41% of all employment opportunities in the country. It is clear that their potential to uplift socioeconomic levels and development is unlimited.”
“We are fully aware of the many challenges that you encounter while running your businesses, particularly over the past two years. We congratulate you for your perseverance as you focused on your core business objectives of creating wealth for yourselves and job opportunities for emaSwati.” “As the Government puts measures in place to work towards economic recovery, entrepreneurship must be at the centre of public discourse as one of the key opportunities to solve the country’s most pressing economic and social challenges.”
“With youth unemployment currently standing at 58%, we need to take action and make youth entrepreneurship a priority in our development goals as a country. This requires us to develop programmes that will foster youth entrepreneurship by providing requisite entrepreneurial training and mentorship, incubation centres and financial assistance to young entrepreneurs.”
“We are happy to note that women-owned enterprises in the country are growing at a faster rate than ever. However, it is true that the economic potential of female entrepreneurs remains partly untapped and measures are required to promote female entrepreneurship through life-long entrepreneurial learning and easy access to finance for starting and growing their businesses.” “It was pleasing to learn that some of the past winners of the competition have expanded their operations beyond our borders. Let this be a challenge for all the winners today. We must fly our flag high and let the goods and services we export uplift the Eswatini brand t
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