On 22 August 2018, the Dudfield operation of leading construction materials company, AfriSam, celebrated with local SMMEs their graduation from the first intake of Dudfield’s Enterprise and Supplier Development programme.   The Dudfield Enterprise and Supplier Development training programme commenced in January 2018 with the aim of identifying Small and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) in the surrounding communities to the AfriSam Dudfield operation and assisting those enterprises to grow their business skills and capabilities to access markets and participate in the AfriSam supply chain.  

This initiative is in line with AfriSam’s transformation strategy and in response to the need expressed by the community leaders in the Stakeholder Engagement Forum / Meetings.  

Vishal Aniruth, General Manager of AfriSam Dudfield says: “A key focus for AfriSam is to understand the needs of society and communities in areas where we do business in order to make meaningful and sustainable contributions to their upliftment and long term development. We trust that the SMMEs as part of the first intake Dudfield’s Enterprise and Supplier Development programme have gained valuable knowledge and skills to grow their businesses.” 

The community leaders assisted AfriSam with the collection of business profiles from the community. The profiles were assessed and a total of 26 SMME owners and delegates signed up for business training.

The full training series comprised three levels covering 20 modules and entailed 39 days of training in total. The modules covered during the programme included basic accounting concepts, statutory requirements and compliance, pricing and costing and bookkeeping amongst others.   

Twelve enterprises who were already part of the AfriSam supply chain were enrolled for the mentoring and coaching programme, which aimed to assist them with resolving some obstacles that they were experiencing in doing business and to increase their competitive advantage.  

During the six months of training, the SMMEs were also given an opportunity to participate in some short and medium term supply opportunities at Dudfield which included, catering, transportation, silo cleaning, and construction and renovations of toilets in the local schools as part of the AfriSam’s CSR initiatives. At the ceremony two individuals were rewarded with two special awards, namely for 100% Attendance and Top Class Marks. 

Amongst the guests were delegates from the Local Economic Development Department of Ditsobotla Municipality and Jan de Kock of ABSA Enterprise and Supply Chain Development, who encouraged the SMMEs to reach out to ABSA’s development funding solutions.   

The SMMEs thanked AfriSam for supporting their businesses and pledged to be ambassadors of AfriSam by setting a good example in the community and providing employment and upliftment to the youth in their respective communities. All participants who completed the course, received a laptop from AfriSam, as a gift to be used as an essential tool to enhance their business administration and connectivity.   

A second intake of the Dudfield Enterprise and Supplier Development Programme is underway and the training will commence mid-September 2018.

Motswiri Enterprise Strategies (Pty) Ltd is contracted by AfriSam to conduct the training and provide Coaching and Mentoring to the local SMMEs enrolled on the Dudfield ESD Programme.  

ABOUT AFRISAM (PTY) LTD

Founded as Anglovaal Portland Cement Company Limited in 1934, AfriSam is today the leading black-controlled building construction materials group in southern Africa. With operations in South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland and Tanzania the company has nearly 2 000 employees and an annual production capacity of over five million tons of cement. It has six cement production facilities, eight cement depots, 17 quarries and aggregate operations, 4 readymix concrete plants and a Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) milling plant.   

CONTACT
MAXINE NEL
TEL : +27 011 670 5893
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www.afrisam.com