MEDO opens DTI’s first youth entrepreneur incubator

Part of its pledge to support SMEs, it was announced today that MEDO ICT Incubator would be the first youth incubator in the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) Incubator Support Programme. The South African entrepreneurial development organisation MEDO will manage and facilitate this centre, as well as provide support and training for participating entrepreneurs.

The Department of Trade and Industry launched the Incubator Support Programme (ISP) in 2012 in a move to provide support and grow sustainable entrepreneurial businesses in various industry sectors in South Africa. From today, however, MEDO will take charge of this centre.

The incubator is based in the Maboneng District, Johannesburg and will focus on supporting young entrepreneurs with a focus on both providing business capital and support. The area was chosen for its promising infrastructure as it boasts high speed fibre bandwidth connectivity as well as an Internet TV studio that will facilitate internet TV broadcast.

MEDO notes that the facilities will support more than 300 SMEs while a permanent incubation of about 20 ICT businesses are included so that small businesses can benefit from the full suite of shared services.

MEDO has been prominent in its support to encourage relationships and expand trade in and outside of Africa. Since November 2011, for instance, MEDO has interacted with over 17 000 community members at its mobile incubator Treppie. With a strong commitment to the youth, out of the organisation’s total beneficiaries 61% is under the age of 35. MEDO CEO Judi Sandrock says:

“This is a very exciting time for smaller and medium sized enterprise growth in South Africa and MEDO is very pleased to be working with the DTI on such an innovative development. The MEDO ICT Incubation Centre is a phenomenal step in building economic growth and job creation in the country.”