On September 13 the executive mayor for the City of Johannesburg, Clr Herman Mashaba, officially opened the city’s third opportunity centre in Diepsloot situated in Region A.
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This opening comes after the opening of two such centres in March and July named Khoebo, located in Marshalltown, and Isiqalo, located in Roodepoort.
It is under the leadership of MMC for Economic Development Clr Leah Knott that the roll-out continues across the city.
The centres are based on a model set to uplift the profile of emerging entrepreneurs, allowing them to benefit extensively from the services offered.
The new opportunity centre business model allows the Department of Economic Development to increase the number of centres earmarked to facilitate ease of access by people mostly in need of them, in various communities and surrounding areas.
According to the department’s strategic objectives, a total of 14 opportunity centres are planned to be rolled out by the end of the 2020/2021 financial year.
Officials from the city strongly believe the development and support of small, medium-sized and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and entrepreneurs play a critical role in assisting the city to achieve its target of a five per cent economic growth by 2021, and a reduction in the unemployment rate within Johannesburg.
Through private sector partners, the city aims to continue empowering youth in business through an array of services offered at the centres.
The opportunity centres serve as a “Single Point of Entry” for servicing emerging and established SMMEs geared towards growing their businesses.
SMMEs will be guided on how to register their businesses, develop business plans; they will be assisted in analysing business models and identifying corrective actions that can help grow and sustain their businesses.
Some of the standardised services offered at the Diepsloot Opportunity Centre, as in the other two centres are:
General business information and advice.
Business assessments, gap analysis and development plans.
Business management training seminars, including financial literacy, marketing sales and operations management.
Training on tax compliance, including company registration.
Managed workshops, meeting rooms and internet Wi-Fi services for business research.
Funding facilitation, including funding products awareness and application support.
Enterprise development services delivery points.
Assistance with city supplier database and compliance issues.
Business Idea Generation and supply chain training to enable access to markets.
Referral to relevant business support services.
All opportunity centres have a job seekers desk, which offers public and private sector companies access to a pool of applicants utilising the database.
Interested parties are encouraged to visit the following opportunity centres:
Khoebo Opportunity Centre – Ninth Floor, Samancor Building, 88 Marshall Street, Marshalltown.
Isiqalo Opportunity Centre – Fourth Floor, Roodepoort Civic Theatre, Christian De Wet Road, Florida Park.
Diepsloot Opportunity Centre – 1131 Ingonyama Street, Skills Centre, Diepsloot.
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