The South African Breweries (SAB) Lerumo is an enterprise and supplier development programme targeted at black woman owned small-to-medium enterprises with the intent to help them improve procurement capabilities and better manoeuvre in large corporates with complex procurement structures.
The top 32 entrepreneurs for SAB Lerumo 2018 were recognised during an event celebrating women entrepreneurship. Industry leaders were available to offer insight and guidance on excellence in business and how to traverse complex corporate supply chains.
The women entrepreneurs were also able to engage in a business-pitch-feedback-session – setup in a ‘speed dating’ format. They had eight-minutes to pitch their business propositions to a category manager, with feedback provided to help them improve their presentation in the future.
Now in its second year, SAB Lerumo has been expanded, in partnership with Royal Bafokeng Holdings, to include women entrepreneurs based in the North West province as a means of increasing economic development in that region. Included in the partnership, SizweNtsalubaGobodo facilitated the programme’s masterclasses as well as arranged the various guest speakers.
The core focus of the programme has also shifted to women entrepreneurs within the manufacturing sector – which also saw the candidate numbers grow.
“This year, we focused on women in manufacturing as it aligns with our supply chain and the valuable knowledge and expertise we can share with the businesses, and because we want to empower more black women owned businesses in what is predominantly a male led sector,” says David Hauxwell, vice-president procurement and sustainability at SAB and AB InBev Africa.
The 32 women entrepreneurs were selected on their business capability and potential to thrive under a targeted growth focused intervention for their business.