Dell Technologies is supporting black-owned businesses in South Africa, and it goes well beyond a line item in a CSI budget. It is a structured, accountable programme designed to build entrepreneurs who no longer need a hand up.
South Africa’s entrepreneurial spirit has long been one of its most underutilised assets. Small businesses create jobs, meet market needs and improve the lives of communities across the country. The question has never been whether entrepreneurs have what it takes. It has always been whether they have the support they need to succeed.
Through its Enterprise and Supplier Development Programme, Dell Technologies South Africa is working to change that equation. The programme specifically targets black-owned and black women-owned SMEs, providing them with the infrastructure, training, skills development and funding necessary to grow into financially and operationally independent businesses. The focus is on ICT infrastructure, because in a digital economy, access to technology is not a luxury. It is a prerequisite.
Who qualifies?
The programme is open to small businesses operating in the ICT sector that meet the following criteria:
- At least 51% black ownership, qualifying as either an exempted micro-enterprise or a qualifying small enterprise
- A valid B-BBEE certificate or ICT affidavit
- A minimum of two years in active operation
- A current annual financial report
In keeping with Dell’s emphasis on governance, applicants are put through a thorough audit process and multiple interview stages. This is not a tick-box initiative. It is a deliberate, accountable investment in businesses with the foundations to grow.
Education as infrastructure
Dell’s commitment to South Africa’s development does not stop at enterprise support. The Dell Development Fund, established to drive social upliftment through access to technology and education, reflects the company’s understanding that sustainable economic transformation requires investment at every level of the pipeline.
Through the Fund, Dell Technologies has partnered with several of South Africa’s leading universities, awarding more than 50 scholarships annually to students pursuing qualifications in Information Technology. The logic is straightforward: young people need access to technology first, and then practical experience and know-how to turn that access into opportunity.
The Fund also supports a range of skills development initiatives, including the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Christel House, the Students’ Health and Welfare Centres Organisation (SHAWCO) and Code for Change.
Why it matters
Corporate social investment in South Africa often makes headlines at launch and disappears quietly thereafter. What distinguishes Dell Technologies South Africa’s approach is its integration into the business model itself. Internal inclusiveness, connected communities and the evolution of small businesses are not peripheral concerns. They are central to how the company operates in this market. Dell is not alone in this thinking, and Cisco South Africa has taken a remarkably similar long-term approach to ICT skills development and economic transformation.
Transforming businesses, shaping innovation and developing technology are not abstract ambitions here. They are the practical mechanisms through which Dell Technologies South Africa believes human progress is made. And in a country with the levels of unemployment and inequality South Africa carries, that kind of long-term, tangible commitment matters more than most.
Originally by Natasha Reuben, Head of Transformation, Dell Technologies South Africa