Zimele is about creating sustainability in business. It’s focused on building sustainable livelihoods in the Anglo American host communities and on strengthening relationships to create synergies within Anglo American and with broader mining industry partners. 

Zimele is playing its part to create jobs and grow small businesses. Zimele hubs focus on supporting SMMEs and the youth through up-front mentorship, followed by funding opportunities.

Zimele Programmes; 

  1. Zimele Enterprise Development programme - Building and growing small businesses within our communities.
  2. Zimele Supplier

The Raymond Ackerman Academy is a post-matric level academy that offers an inspiring and innovative six month, full-time programme in entrepreneurial development. 

The course aims at empowering young people by developing their entrepreneurial mind-sets. 

The RAA is 'RAAsome' opportunity for youth between 18 - 35 looking to:

- Develop personally

- Build their entrepreneurial mind-set 

- Learn business skills 

The curriculum is based on 7 business building blocks:

1: Introduction to entrepreneurship

  • Includes the characteristics of the entrepreneur and entrepreneurial activities in SA

The Western Cape Government understands that young entrepreneurs play an important role in promoting social change and driving innovation. New products and services created by entrepreneurs can cause a ripple effect and stimulate related businesses or sectors that need to support the new venture. That's why young entrepreneurs are important for stimulating economic growth.

The government understands that young entrepreneurs face certain challenges when they want to start their own businesses. Access to funding, education and training, better infrastructure, and networking opportunities are

The Eastern Cape Information Technology Initiative (ECITI) is a non-profit company, established by the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) in 2004. ECDC is set up to facilitate sustainable development for small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) in the information communication and technology (ICT) and film sectors in the Eastern Cape.

ECDC Offerings: 

Incubation

The incubation programme is designed to accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through various support resources and services. Incubation is offered to resident (in-house) companies in our

Grindstone is a structured entrepreneurship development programme that assists high-growth innovation-driven companies to get the fundamental building blocks in place to scale quickly and become sustainable and fundable.

Grindstone offers a range of programmes:

GrindstoneXL programme

Every year a limited number of scale-up entrepreneurs participate in our highly successful GrindstoneXL programme, where participants are taken through a nine-month duration of intense learning, scaling and growth by looking at everything required to become highly fundable. 

Sponsorships

Grindstone has

Startupbootcamp AfriTech is the leading accelerator for startups, supporting and scaling innovative and disruptive technology companies across the African Continent. The Startupbootcamp AfriTech office is located in the old Foundry in Greenpoint at Ideas Cartel, which operates under Inner City Ideas Cartel.

Currently, Startupbootcamp AfriTech has the ASIP Accelerator Program running. 

The ASIP Accelerator is anchored by leading corporate sponsor Telecel Group an entity that aims to support the next generation of early-stage African tech startups disrupting key industry verticals that include

The Entrepreneurs Network (TEN) is a platform of programs and initiatives aimed at growing an entrepreneurial ecosystem that will become a think tank for creating jobs, accelerating innovation and strengthening good entrepreneurial and professional practice. Founded by entrepreneurs and businesses, The Network is open to businesses that seek to make a national impact.

TEN Mission:

  • Expanding the number of ordinary citizens working for or starting firms and businesses around Lesotho.
  • Increasing understanding between the new and traditional elements of emerging startup communities and

The Small Enterprises Development Company (SEDCO) is a public enterprise that is wholly owned by the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini.  SEDCO is an organization established to create, develop and promote Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Kingdom of Eswatini and exists primarily to stimulate homegrown entrepreneurship with sustainable economic growth through entrepreneurship development and growth. 

SEDCO provides the following interventions to MSMEs:

  • Capacity Development
  • Business Counselling & Advisory
  • Legal Consultation & Advisory
  • Business Incubation
  • Business

Junior Achievement Eswatini (JAE), exists for the purpose of equipping the youth with much needed financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship skills, enabling the youth to contribute and succeed in the local and global economy. JAE is a not for profit organisation, and a member of JA Worldwide. JA is an organization that offers business and entrepreneurial education programs to young people aged between 14-35 years. JA is a trend-setter in investing and encouraging young people to own their future economic success in the 21st-century global marketplace by focusing on the impact

The Global Entrepreneurship Network Namibia operates the GEN Accelerates platform support for women and youth-led programs in Namibia aimed at making it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business. By fostering deeper cross-border collaboration and initiatives between entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers, and entrepreneurial support organizations, GEN works to fuel healthier start and scale ecosystems that create more jobs, educate individuals, accelerate innovation and strengthen economic growth.