Every Friday morning, SAfm's AMLive's radio anchor Nikiwe Bikitsha speaks to Martin Creamer, publishing editor of Engineering News and Mining Weekly. Reported here is this Friday's At the Coalface transcript:
Bikitsha: South Africa has been selected to host a global biotech research laboratory, of which there are only two others in the world. Tell us more.
Creamer: It is a feather in the cap for South Africa to be selected to host this biotech research laboratory. There are only two others in the world, the one is in New Delhi in India and the other is Trieste in Italy and the third one will be at the University of Cape Town in Cape Town. This selection has been done by the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechlogy (ICGEB) and the idea is that we develop innovative research in an African context, but also taking into account what is needed globally. The two other bidders to host the laboratory were Tanzania and Nigeria and, even before the bid victory was announced, it was agreed that there would be Africa-Africa cooperation, no matter who won, so we will have this cross Africa research reciprocity. The big thing is that the IGGEB is looking for innovation in the field of genetic engineering and biotechnology and what I mean by that is that it is looking at developments like crop improvement, for instance. Sought will be bio-medical advances, new bio-pharmaceutical and bio-pesticide approaches. There will be a lot of research and development investment coming through - the South African government itself has to invest about R40-million - along with the advantage of additional intellectual capital and the development of top students.
Bikitsha: Secondly Martin, South Africa's new industrial-policy framework is to be aligned with that of the United Nations at a workshop next month.
Creamer: Yes, United Nations, through Unido, that is the United Nation Industrial Development Organisation, has its own set of policies with regarding industrial development. South Africa has been working on its national industrial framework policy for some time now. The Cabinet has sent it back to the Department of Trade and Industry at least twice and this has been really well refined. It is taking a twin format. The one is job creation by selecting sectors that can create jobs and the other is handpicking high impact projects that wouldn't come to South Africa without specially tailored incentives. On the job creation side, we see business process outsourcing that has become a big thing with call centres, a lot of promotion of that. Biofuels is another and tourism a third. On the 'pick-winners' approach we see the government going for high impact and we noticed with the Alcan project specially-tailored incentives. Alcan wouldn't have come here without those tailored incentives, which is called 'additionality', meaning that South Africa hosts a project as a direct result of tailoring incentives. Aligning of South Africa's industrial policy with that of Unido is going to be done in the full African context as well and sub-regional context. We have seen that the Southern African Development Community already meeting with South Africa in Midrand on trying to align its industrial policies with those of South Africa. Then there will be a continental context when they meet at a summit at Accra in Ghana in mid-year and again the theme will be 'African Industrialisation'.
Bikitsha: Finally Martin, the Cabinet has approved the long-awaited broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) codes of best practice, which are due to be gazetted next month.
Creamer: There are a lot of B's in it. The first BEE we know very well, but there are two B's before that which stand for broad-based. Government has again been working on this for some time. Cabinet, in its last meeting of the year, approved the BBBEE codes of best practice. Two new developments coming through, one for the benefit of small companies, which will be totally exempt from BEE and I am talking about those with turnovers below R5-million. They will be deemed to be BEE and BBBEE compliant if they bid for any government work. Then a lot of flexibility for the medium-size companies and when I say medium-sized I mean those companies with turnovers of up to R35-million turnover a year. Instead of the great emphasis on ownership and they still put the ownership percentage at 25% BBBEE - ownership can be de-emphasised with medium-sized firms. There are seven BBBEE criteria and ownership is one of these. Of the seven, medium-sized companies can chose four and still earn sufficient points on the scorecard for skills development, management, on corporate social investment and take another one of the elements and you could then become fully compliant and become a BBBEE company, which means you could bid on government work even though you have not ceded any of your ownership to BEE partners.
Bikitsha: Thanks very much. Martin Creamer is publishing editor of Engineering News and Mining Weekly, he'll be back with us at the same time next week.
Click hear to listen to original audio
Bikitsha: South Africa has been selected to host a global biotech research laboratory, of which there are only two others in the world. Tell us more.
Creamer: It is a feather in the cap for South Africa to be selected to host this biotech research laboratory. There are only two others in the world, the one is in New Delhi in India and the other is Trieste in Italy and the third one will be at the University of Cape Town in Cape Town. This selection has been done by the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechlogy (ICGEB) and the idea is that we develop innovative research in an African context, but also taking into account what is needed globally. The two other bidders to host the laboratory were Tanzania and Nigeria and, even before the bid victory was announced, it was agreed that there would be Africa-Africa cooperation, no matter who won, so we will have this cross Africa research reciprocity. The big thing is that the IGGEB is looking for innovation in the field of genetic engineering and biotechnology and what I mean by that is that it is looking at developments like crop improvement, for instance. Sought will be bio-medical advances, new bio-pharmaceutical and bio-pesticide approaches. There will be a lot of research and development investment coming through - the South African government itself has to invest about R40-million - along with the advantage of additional intellectual capital and the development of top students.
Bikitsha: Secondly Martin, South Africa's new industrial-policy framework is to be aligned with that of the United Nations at a workshop next month.
Creamer: Yes, United Nations, through Unido, that is the United Nation Industrial Development Organisation, has its own set of policies with regarding industrial development. South Africa has been working on its national industrial framework policy for some time now. The Cabinet has sent it back to the Department of Trade and Industry at least twice and this has been really well refined. It is taking a twin format. The one is job creation by selecting sectors that can create jobs and the other is handpicking high impact projects that wouldn't come to South Africa without specially tailored incentives. On the job creation side, we see business process outsourcing that has become a big thing with call centres, a lot of promotion of that. Biofuels is another and tourism a third. On the 'pick-winners' approach we see the government going for high impact and we noticed with the Alcan project specially-tailored incentives. Alcan wouldn't have come here without those tailored incentives, which is called 'additionality', meaning that South Africa hosts a project as a direct result of tailoring incentives. Aligning of South Africa's industrial policy with that of Unido is going to be done in the full African context as well and sub-regional context. We have seen that the Southern African Development Community already meeting with South Africa in Midrand on trying to align its industrial policies with those of South Africa. Then there will be a continental context when they meet at a summit at Accra in Ghana in mid-year and again the theme will be 'African Industrialisation'.
Bikitsha: Finally Martin, the Cabinet has approved the long-awaited broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) codes of best practice, which are due to be gazetted next month.
Creamer: There are a lot of B's in it. The first BEE we know very well, but there are two B's before that which stand for broad-based. Government has again been working on this for some time. Cabinet, in its last meeting of the year, approved the BBBEE codes of best practice. Two new developments coming through, one for the benefit of small companies, which will be totally exempt from BEE and I am talking about those with turnovers below R5-million. They will be deemed to be BEE and BBBEE compliant if they bid for any government work. Then a lot of flexibility for the medium-size companies and when I say medium-sized I mean those companies with turnovers of up to R35-million turnover a year. Instead of the great emphasis on ownership and they still put the ownership percentage at 25% BBBEE - ownership can be de-emphasised with medium-sized firms. There are seven BBBEE criteria and ownership is one of these. Of the seven, medium-sized companies can chose four and still earn sufficient points on the scorecard for skills development, management, on corporate social investment and take another one of the elements and you could then become fully compliant and become a BBBEE company, which means you could bid on government work even though you have not ceded any of your ownership to BEE partners.
Bikitsha: Thanks very much. Martin Creamer is publishing editor of Engineering News and Mining Weekly, he'll be back with us at the same time next week.
Click hear to listen to original audio