Diamond company De Beers has officially launched its second business incubator near its Venetia diamond mine operations, in Limpopo.

The incubator’s accelerated development programme aims to promote upcoming entrepreneurs, as well as small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) from mining communities.

Specialist mentoring and training company TrioPlus will facilitate the programme and will provide support for 52 enterprises or entrepreneurs. Of these participants, 22 are from the Musina municipality and 30 from the Blouberg municipality. At least 50% of the programme participants include women and youth.

De Beers Consolidated Mines Enterprise & Supplier Development senior commercial manager Gregory Petersen says that, while the initial targets were for 40 participants, with 20 from each municipality, it came to De Beers’ attention that there is additional potential in the Blouberg municipality.

“There is a definite need for us to make an impact on more businesses in the Blouberg area,” Peterson says.

The incubation programme started last month, with workshops targeting existing and aspiring entrepreneurs who have initiatives across the business spectrum.

Classroom training will run on a monthly basis over a three-month period and will cover topics such as market research, financial management and operational management, which will ultimately contribute to a bankable business plan.

One-on-one sessions with entrepreneurs will also assist mentors in evaluating their progress and providing meaningful coaching and support.

n completion of the programme, the best and brightest graduate entrepreneurs will participate in the next phase of the programme. This phase will run for another three months and will include the redesign of the participants’ business plan to incorporate all research and classroom training, as well as further mentorship and support.

The incubator follows on from the De Beers’ Expressions of Interest (EOI) initiative, which the group had set aside for SMMEs in their labour sending areas and which highlighted certain quality challenges in terms of SMME business plans and models during tender processes and shortlistings, Petersen says. The companies that applied for the EOI were invited to apply for the incubator programme initiative as well.

The incubation programme at Venetia mine mirrors that of the Voorspoed mine, in the Free State, which was launched in June and has supported 45 entrepreneurs to date.

Classroom training at Voorspoed has been completed, with Peterson highlighting the growth seen in the participants in terms of appearance and oral presentation, as well as the advances made in business research.

He says De Beers is excited that small local businesses now have the opportunity to participate in the diamond pipeline, as the company is undergoing several localised drives and enterprise developments to promote them.