South Africa’s economic engine is stalling. With the IMF slashing our growth forecast to just 1%, it’s clear that our levers of economic growth are barely turning. Yet within this bleak outlook lies a powerful opportunity, if we choose to unlock it. The question is, can we unlock the support needed to create a start-up ecosystem that is built for sustainable growth?
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have long been hailed as the heartbeat of growing economies. They drive job creation, innovation and exports, but if you scratch beneath the surface of our so-called start-up boom the shine quickly fades. While Sars reports more than 3.6-million registered businesses, recent action by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) to deregister 800,000 inactive entities exposes a sobering reality: we may have more ghost start-ups than actual businesses...
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