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Telkom FutureMakers generates millions – boosting local business, touching lives

The Telkom FutureMakers enterprise and supplier development (ESD) programme has reported impressive successes - creating procurement and innovation impact worth R339 million, far exceeding its goals and impacting thousands of lives.

These millions of rands worth of impacts in the 2024 financial year come in the form of procurement opportunities and innovation programmes to support developing enterprises and represent enormous growth from the 2023 level of R191 million.

During the 2024 financial year, SMMEs in the Telkom FutureMakers programme increased to 428 from 320.

Telkom's investments in SMMEs and development programmes resulted in positive social and commercial outcomes in the following ways in FY2024:

• SMMEs in our programmes generated revenue of R399 million - 69 500 new jobs created and sustained (FY2023: 39 261), resulting in 229 350 lives impacted.
• A contribution to Telkom's ESG strategy to impact 100 000 lives through SMME development by FY2025 resulted in the target being met in FY2023. The target has been revised to 250 000 lives impacted by FY2026.
• Telkom Consumer distribution channels: R104 million in sales (FY2023: R152 million)

"Our investments in SMMEs and development programmes have resulted in real, positive social and commercial outcomes," says Tshepo Phetla, Head: Business Development. These impacts are especially felt among black and women-owned businesses.

One such success story has been Mmapaseka Academy, an ICT training business in Kimberley in the Northern Cape. The business was founded in 2020 by Naledi Moncho, and is 100% black youth, women-owned and managed. Through Telkom FutureMakers, it received seed funding, during their participation in the Telkom Tech Accelerator programme, for the development of training tools and platforms and to cover operational expenses and marketing.

Telkom FutureMakers onboarded Mmapaseka as a beneficiary on the Telkom Tech Accelerator programme in 2022, and the business was later awarded a three-year contract with BCX to run learnership programmes for 49 learners.

The business also offers digital skills training for FutureMaker's Telkom Township Incubation programme allowing them to generate full-time employment for four young black women.

Another success story is Credipple, a rewards-based talent marketplace connecting business clients to trusted creative and digital professionals for online and remote work. Telkom FutureMakers supported the SMME with a business development grant and made a pre-seed investment in 2022. Credipple received further investment in the business through the AIONS Venture builder in October 2023.

The business is showing offshoots of the investments with a noticeable increase in revenue and a healthy pipeline of opportunities. Four permanent jobs and 338 short-term jobs were generated through the business, which now has key relationships with Digify Africa, Goethe Institut and Amazon Web Services.

Ultimately, through strategic partnerships like these, and committed, focused enterprise and supplier development programmes, Telkom FutureMakers is transforming the business landscape.

"We're proud to be growing local businesses, and connecting communities across the nation to a brighter future," says Phetla.

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