Absa Group received the much coveted Empowerment Funding Award during the 2012 Oliver Empowerment Awards Ceremony hosted by Topco Media recently.
The Oliver Empowerment Awards, in their 11th year running, are SA’s most influential Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Awards recognising leadership and innovation in empowerment.
Rigorously assessed and independently assured, the Awards provide recognition for companies that are integrating empowering business practice and delivering positive impact in the marketplace, workplace and the community.
Designed to shine the spotlight on and recognise leadership and innovation in empowerment, this year’s awards had three categories; organisations, individuals and headline awards. Out of 60 finalists, Absa was the only bank to have won an award. The award was in the Organisational Awards category.
Absa’s Business Markets Enterprise Development Head, Sisa Ntshona says: “Absa’s Enterprise Development Unit won the award for Empowerment Funding for SMEs, having approved facilities to new and emerging businesses that ordinarily would not have qualified for funding through normal banking channels. The bank also provides Business Support to SMEs through Regional Enterprise Development Centres countrywide.”
He says Absa has always provided both financial and non financial support and thus constantly seeks other innovative ways to assist with the growth and sustainability of SMEs.
In a concerted effort to meet government’s call to create more jobs and assist in poverty alleviation, Ntshona says Absa Group launched its Enterprise Development unit earlier this year. The unit is focused on and dedicated to assist with the growth and development of emerging enterprises.
“Our Enterprise Development unit is a sub-section of Absa’s Business Markets division, and aims to take on government’s challenge of job creation through entrepreneurship seriously,” he says.
Commenting on the Awards, Ralf Fletcher, the publisher of Topco Media’s annual empowerment publication Impumelelo says all entries underwent a rigorous judging process and had to meet eight preset criteria.
“Most importantly, the winners clearly demonstrated that they had integrated transformation as part of their business processes and not considered it as a silo imperative that was activated and paraded for procurement and business development purposes only. The merits of this approach is evident in the business' sustained success and is worthy of celebration,” Fletcher says.