SME graduates walk the virtual stage at Accenture’s ESDP graduation ceremony

JOHANNESBURG; May 12, 2021 – SMEs from the Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Enterprise Supplier Development Programme (ESDP) walked the stage to receive their well-deserved Business Management qualifications, accredited by Henley Business School. The virtual Leaders Learn Henley graduation ceremony took place on the 30th April 2021.

This year the ESD programme supported 19 SMEs, and as part of the Leaders’s Learn training support pillar, we extended the invite to their management teams, making it a total of 36 candidates to participate in the course. “We felt it was important that we extend the programme to their staff, especially their management team, so that the new knowledge is translated organisation wide,” states Zandile Njamela, Global Lead for the Enterprise & Supplier Development Programme at Accenture Africa.

This group of graduates kicked off in April 2018 on the Accenture ESDP. They are the first group to have been trained through the Accenture and Henley Business School programme partnership. “We co-created the course through a design thinking session with past and current ESDP SMEs, Accenture Learning team and Henley faculty to ensure we deliver a meaningful learning experience for the business owners and their staff. The course touched on business management techniques, leading a business through 4IR and personal mastery as a business leader,” states Njamela.

The 19 ESDP SMEs are made up of 10 technology start-ups, and 9 emerging SMEs who are aligned to Accenture’s business as potential suppliers. The SMEs are supported through six pillars namely; mentoring, access to market, early payments, training, collaboration, and business development support. The initiative is part of Accenture’s ESD and procurement spend and contributes to maintaining Accenture’s level 1 B-BBEE accreditation. Out of the 9 emerging businesses, Accenture contracted 6 SMEs as suppliers of Accenture. The ESD programme forms part of Accenture’s Global Supplier Inclusion and Sustainability practice, which fulfils Accenture’s Responsible Business agenda through various supplier inclusion initiatives and programmes. Programmes such as the award winning global Diverse Supplier Development Programme (DSDP) – which celebrates 15 years this year – started in the US in 2005, then in Canda, UK, South Africa and India in 2020.

“The ESDP is well supported at the C-Suite level as part of Accenture’s strategy to help grow other businesses that Accenture can work with as suppliers and partners,” states Kgomotso Lebele, Resources, Health & Public Sector Growth & Sales Lead at Accenture Africa.“As we go to market and service our clients, it enables us to have ‘Accenturized’ businesses that align with our quality and values. Mentors to the programme are senior executives of Accenture and some are part of Exco,” he adds.

"I believe leaders never stop learning and therefore it was important for the programme to equip the SMEs and their teams with new insight, not only to improve their businesses but also their management styles," Njamela says. “Looking at the great outcomes from the Leaders Learn Program - we look forward to a more meaningful partnership with Henley Business School in growing the business leaders who drive our economy,” she concludes.

Below is a list of the participating SMEs who have successfully completed the Henley Leaders Learn Program:

1. Mandla Ngcobo, ACCELERIT TECHNOLOGIES – Accelerit’s network consulting capabilities assist clients in envisioning, planning, architecting, implementing and operating network solutions.
2. Pindile Montrose, MATDIN CONSULTING – Matdin Consulting is committed to developing middleware solutions to help customers integrate their traditional systems to modernised systems and achieve an integrated network e.g. wireless solutions, telephony solutions, IT business solutions and software development.
3. Veronica Motloutsi , SMART DIGITAL SOLUTIONS – Innovative digital services company specialising in transforming companies to be leaders in digital. At our core, we create digital leaders specialising in connectivity, IoT and data analytics.
4. Marilyn Radebe, SOMA SOLUTIONS – Soma Solutions provides ICT solutions such as system integration, ICT infrastructure, end user computing and IT resource planning.
5. Ntokozo Mkhize, ZELA HOUSE – Zela House specialises in business intelligence (BI), data warehousing, data analytics, reporting, data and systems migration, report writing.
6. Bulelwa Koyana, SIYAKHA ADVISORY SERVICES ALSO KNOWN AS QSP – Consulting and business development partner focused on provisioning consulting and outsourcing services such as technology consulting services, business, development services, ICT advisory, BPO services and human capital management.
7. Madimetja Mogoba, XSEMBLE – Turnkey consultants specifically in the fields of electrical and mechanical consulting, renewable energy engineering, information technology, energy auditing, information technology and automated metering infrastructure architecture.
8. Maboe Maphaka, MCS HOLDINGS – MCS Holdings assists municipalities and utilities to improve service delivery through revenue and losses management, integrated planning for infrastructure development, capacity building and governance.
9. Edith Maphisa, FUSE IT – Fuse IT is a software development company that specialises in bespoke software development, integration and project management services. We develop web-based enterprise solutions and mobile applications for customers that vary from small-to-large enterprises in both the public and private sectors.
10. Ngwana Matloa & Phaswa Mokone, ABOT TECHNOLOGY – ABOT Technology is a software development company which delivers innovative cool technology, with a people-centric and data first approach. Our services are: application development, business process optimisation, data analytics, UX design and enterprise application intergration.
11. Portia Masimula, KARISANI IT – Karisani IT is an Information Communication and Technology services and solution company specialising in Customer Software Development, Mobile APPs, Development and Maintenance.
12. Tumediso Lubelo, TULO VATION – TuloVation specialises in providing innovative solutions in digital security and technology development. We further offer cyber security consulting and professional training services. Services rendered: digital security, cloud services, mobility, consulting and resourcing.
13. TNthekgo Moroaswi, INVOKE SOLUTIONS – Invoke Solutions is an IT Consulting company which specialises in cyber security, system integration, software development, IT resource capacitation, business information systems consulting and implementation.
14. Percy Mkhwebane, STICKFIRE MEDIA – StickFireMedia is a data-sourcing monitoring firm that makes the access of community radio stations possible for research and validation purposes. Monitoring with a specialisation in Non-streamlining communities. Services: Media Monitoring Services, Digital Agency.
15. Keaobaka Ramantsi, KRAALWORKS – Empower patients/private citizens to have control of their medical records.
16. Arthur Mahlangu, QH CONSULTANTS – Consultancy company focused on UI & UX and investigating pain points within and around SME’s and the corporate sector, thereafter design solutions for the problems identified.
17. Maxwell Goba, SECURE MAX SOLUTIONS – Secure Max is a very unique cordless devise that offers security to car owners in SA. The Secure Max units work in conjunction with an app that the car owner will have to download on their smartphone. Speciality: Vehicle tracking and security.
18. Thabo Moloko and Tebogo Moloi, GATESTAMP – Gatestamp is a cloud based online ticketing service. Services: New innovative mobile ticketing kiosks that revolutionise how consumers interact with brands at events.
19. Dickson Willie, TSOGOLO TECHNOLOGIES – Tsogolo Technologies is trading as Technishen™ which is an on-demand mobile and web platform where businesses and households can request technical support services from certified and vetted technicians, when and where they need it. We provide IT support services by linking the user to the closest available IT support technician on our platform.