On 15 April 2026, Honourable Minister of Small Business Development, Stella Ndabeni, delivered a keynote speech at the National Local Economic Development (LED) Summit held at the Birchwood Conference Centre, Ekurhuleni. Her remarks focused on the urgent need to re-engineer local economies by placing micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) at the centre of South Africa’s growth agenda.
Context: A Defining Moment
Minister Ndabeni described the summit as a defining moment in South Africa’s development journey, requiring bold leadership and decisive action. While acknowledging progress in structural reforms—particularly in energy, logistics, and fiscal discipline—she emphasized that unemployment, inequality, and economic exclusion remain the country’s most binding constraints.
MSMEs as the Engine of Growth
- The Government of National Unity has made inclusive growth and job creation its apex priority, with MSMEs central to this vision.
- The National Development Plan projects that 9 million of the targeted 11 million jobs should come from MSMEs.
- To achieve this, she stressed the need for a fully functional and coordinated ecosystem for small enterprise development, with government acting as a leader and enabler rather than the sole driver.
Policy Interventions and Programmes
Minister Ndabeni outlined a suite of policies and programmes designed to support MSMEs:
- Policy Frameworks:
- MSME & Co-operatives Funding Policy
- Red-Tape Reduction Framework
- Business Licensing Bill
- National Entrepreneurship Strategy
- Incubation & Business Development Services Policy
- Township & Rural Economic Development and Revitalisation Policy
- Programmes and Instruments:
- Support for 1 million MSMEs and cooperatives over the 7th Administration.
- 118 incubators developed in partnership with private sector, universities, and TVET colleges.
- Asset Assist Programme (equipment grants).
- Informal Micro Enterprise Development Programme (support for informal traders).
- Blended finance instruments including:
- Township & Rural Entrepreneurship Programme
- Small Manufacturer Development Support Programme
- Co-operatives Development Support Programme
- Spaza Shop Support Fund
- Women’s Entrepreneurship Fund (upcoming)
- Youth Entrepreneurship Fund (upcoming)
- SEDFA One-Stop Agency: Integration of Seda, sefa, and the Co-operative Banks Development Agency into a single platform, enabling pre- and post-investment support.
The Role of Municipalities
Minister Ndabeni emphasized that local government is the frontline of economic transformation:
- Municipalities are where citizens experience government services and where trust is built or eroded.
- They are also where MSMEs encounter red tape and ease-of-doing-business challenges.
- The ongoing review of the White Paper on Local Government is critical to addressing weak institutional capacity, fiscal pressures, and poor coordination.
She called for municipalities to become economic enablers, not just administrative bodies, by:
- Reducing licensing turnaround times.
- Reforming bylaws that constrain trading and zoning.
- Expanding township infrastructure with zoned commercial precincts and production hubs.
- Aligning LED strategies with catalytic sectors and comparative advantage.
Call to Action: Re-engineering Local Economies
Minister Ndabeni concluded with a strong call to action:
“This is the essence of the Collaborative Blueprint we want to achieve over the next two days. A call to action to Re-engineer Local Economies, to fundamentally transform how economic activity is structured, supported, and sustained within our municipalities, districts, townships, and rural communities.”
She stressed that the voices of entrepreneurs—especially those in townships and rural areas—must actively shape priorities and outcomes, ensuring that the summit delivers practical, implementable, and meaningful change on the ground.
Significance of the Address
Her speech reinforced the summit’s central theme: inclusive growth through empowered local economies. By combining policy reforms, financial instruments, and municipal transformation, Minister Ndabeni positioned MSMEs as the backbone of South Africa’s future prosperity.
