The South African SME segment is an outlier internationally in respect of SMEs’ contribution to GDP, employment, and the fiscus. When taking the participation of informal businesses into account internationally, SMEs contribute more than half of employment and GDP in most countries irrespective of income levels.

Compared to The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), SMEs are the predominant form of enterprise, accounting for approximately 99% of all enterprises. Also, SMEs provide the primary source of employment, accounting for about 70% of jobs on average, versus only 28% in South Africa.

South Africa’s SME employment figures also lags that of other emerging economies, where SMEs contribute up to 45% of total employment and 33% of GDP. It is no surprise then that the government’s National Development Plan 2030 (NDP 2030) looks to SMEs to be significant sources of employment and drivers of growth in our economy.

Many initiatives are being explored by policymakers to accelerate the success and growth of SMEs in South Africa. It is too early to determine any real success of these measures. During the pandemic, the balance between small and big business became more vulnerable.

The spirit of UBUNTU is uniquely ours, and is the overriding philosophy to much of our success as a nation.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu explains that “Ubuntu is the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness … We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.”

In the spirit of Ubuntu, it is now up to us in our capacity as consumers, customers, suppliers, service providers, mentors, or funders to prioritise our support to South African SMEs. While virus-related market changes will bring about new risks, it will also create new opportunities. We need to support these new opportunities and innovations from our SMEs, to change the course of our economy.

Ubuntu speaks about our interconnectedness. It is not only up to government, funders and other perceived powerful and hopeful interventions that will protect and grow our economy and nation. It is frankly up to you, and me. Buy local.