Nutrition company Nestlé SA and the Department of Small Business Development have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that’ll see the creation of more than 600 jobs.
The MOU serves as Nestlé SA’s commitment to sourcing and developing micro-distributors who are primarily located in rural SA and townships.
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The partnership between Nestlé SA and the Department of Small Business Development will see a recruitment of 200 microdistributors from 2017 to 2020. The distributors would then be required to recruit at least three permanent staff, this, in turn, will create over 600 jobs.
The signing of the MOU took place at the annual Proudly South African Summit which was attended by the minister of Small Business Development, Lindiwe Zulu among other senior government officials and business representatives.
Nestlé SA set to give young entrepreneurs a viable start to the distribution industry
“We are proud of this partnership with Nestlé South Africa as it supports our mission of providing a conducive environment for the development and growth of small businesses and cooperatives. We hope that this partnership will encourage other companies to follow suit by unlocking opportunities that can create decent work,” said Zulu in a press release.
“This MOU augurs well for inclusive business in South Africa. It is aligned to our business principle of Creating Shared Value which states that for a business to be successful in the long term, it must create value for communities where it operates,” said the corporate affairs director for Nestlé SA, Ravi Pillay.
The partnership will provide the distributors with financial support as well as upskill them in various areas of sales, warehouse management, financial management and merchandising. The micro-distributors will also be provided with vehicles.
“In a country where the unemployment rate, particularly of the youth, is very high, we believe that we have a responsibility as a company to assist in developing and supporting emerging entrepreneurs. This initiative will enable us to bring our much-loved products closer to the people who need them the most,” Pillay concluded.
Featured image: Nestlé SA
