The era of big corporates creating thousands of jobs has passed: SA President

President Cyril Ramaphosa says that small, medium and micro-enterprises and cooperatives will play a key role in South Africa’s Covid-19 recovery.

In a media briefing this week, the president said that in many developed and developing economies, SMMEs generally account for over 90% of all formal businesses.

“They contribute significantly to GDP and create and sustain lots of jobs in those countries. In South Africa, while 98% of formal businesses are SMMEs, they make a far smaller contribution to employment and GDP.

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“If we are to achieve the goal of the National Development Plan for SMMEs to create at least 90% of the targeted 11 million new jobs by 2030, we need to pay far closer attention to developing small businesses.”