TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Analysis | Rain muddies the waters with approach to Telkom

      11 August 2022

      Rain wants to merge with Telkom: asks to pitch proposal to board

      11 August 2022

      Rain lashed by Takeover Regulation Panel over Telkom statement

      11 August 2022

      Largest SA telecoms operators launch new industry association

      11 August 2022

      MTN shares climb on robust Nigeria, SA performance

      11 August 2022
    • World

      Gaming industry’s fortunes fade as pandemic ends

      11 August 2022

      Disney tops Netflix in streaming subscribers

      11 August 2022

      Jumia says it’s past peak losses, shares jump

      10 August 2022

      Elon Musk sells $6.9-billion of Tesla to avoid Twitter fire sale

      10 August 2022

      Nvidia issues profit warning on slump in demand for graphics cards

      8 August 2022
    • In-depth

      African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

      11 August 2022

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022

      E-mail scams are getting chillingly personal

      17 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      Qush on infosec: why prevention is always better than cure

      11 August 2022

      e4’s Adri Führi on encouraging more women into tech careers

      10 August 2022

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022
    • Opinion

      SIU seeks to set aside R215-million IT tender

      19 July 2022

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»News»Support start-ups, Jack Ma tells South African audience

    Support start-ups, Jack Ma tells South African audience

    News By Ray Mahlaka8 August 2018
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Jack Ma. Image: World Economic Forum

    Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, has used his first visit to South Africa to encourage governments in Africa to support small businesses in order to address the crippling challenge of unemployment.

    “We can create jobs by encouraging small businesses and young people in the African continent,” said Ma on Wednesday at Wits University in Johannesburg.

    In their support of small businesses or start-up companies, the government could create policies to grow businesses including offering them tax breaks or “good tax conditions”, said Ma.

    Give good tax conditions to start-ups. Big companies don’t need these. Let’s get policies for start-ups and young companies

    “Give good tax conditions to start-ups. Big companies don’t need these. Let’s get policies for start-ups and young companies,” he said.

    Ma is in South Africa to launch a new programme for African entrepreneurs with US$10-million (R134-million at the time of writing) in funding.

    The programme, called the “Netpreneur Prize”, aims to support 100 young African entrepreneurs by 2030 by giving them grants totalling $10-million.

    The Jack Ma Foundation also plans to launch five training hubs in Africa for emerging entrepreneurs to learn about business, e-commerce, distribution and logistics. The foundation has not announced the countries targeted for the training hubs.

    Ma’s address was largely centred on governments creating an enabling environment for entrepreneurs in Africa.

    “Governments should encourage entrepreneurs. It’s the entrepreneur that will drive dreams in Africa. Small businesses create jobs. Dreams drive the economy.”

    Red tape

    Ma’s speech came at a time when there are growing views that government policies and regulations are stunting the development and growth of small businesses.

    Although the government in South Africa continues to acknowledge the potential of small businesses to boost the economy and making a dent in unemployment figures — standing at 27.2% in the second quarter — most businesses still complain about lack of financial and skills support from government. Entrepreneurs also complain about the lack of clear entrepreneurship policies and an environment fraught with regulation.

    Ma also encouraged governments to start having dialogues with small businesses to understand their concerns, challenges and opportunities.

    • This article was originally published on Moneyweb and is used here with permission
    Alibaba Jack Ma top
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleMTN’s Shuter plays down 5G’s short-term impact
    Next Article MTN affirms full-year dividend target, despite Iran sanctions

    Related Posts

    Analysis | Rain muddies the waters with approach to Telkom

    11 August 2022

    Rain wants to merge with Telkom: asks to pitch proposal to board

    11 August 2022

    Rain lashed by Takeover Regulation Panel over Telkom statement

    11 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Pricing Beyond CMYK: printers answer the FAQs

    11 August 2022

    How secure is your cloud?

    10 August 2022

    5 ways to make attack-path management more manageable

    10 August 2022
    Opinion

    SIU seeks to set aside R215-million IT tender

    19 July 2022

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.