By: Lungisa Somtombo
A platform for export market was created for small businesses at the inaugural two-day Export Symposium and Exhibition done by the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) in Abbotsford Christian Centre, East London.
One of the businesses that got an opportunity to showcase their work was Buyel’embo Village owned by Nwabisa Gxothiwe. The business focuses on extracting natural aloe which can be used on animals and face detox, harvesting honey to be used as medicine, traditional beadwork and traditional clothes mostly for men.
“Buyel’embo Village started in 2013 at Cape Town but I decided to move back to King Williams Town at Kwamasingatha Village in 2015. The aim was to have a place where tourists and locals could have a taste of traditional food and clothes,” said Gxothiwe.
Gxothiwe described her business as the promotion of rural tourism. It operates in a village and invites people to come and see how things were done in the olden days.
She said she sees the export symposium as support from the government as she is given a chance to grow her business. Though it is not financial support but at the end she will see the fruits of showcasing her work there.
Zwelitsha-based clothing and textile designer, Nobuzwe Mabona saw the symposium as a platform for her to know the process of exporting her work as she already has relations in China. She got an opportunity to do a six months course in one of their art colleges.
The born artist says she always knew that she will have her own art business one day as she always expressed herself through drawings. Due to pressure she looked for a job and worked at a youth radio station. In 2011, she started her own company called Buzwe Bethu Textile & Prints which produces printed fabric clothes and beaded neck pieces.
Going to China taught her different things. She can create items using beads which include handbags. Mabona says her business is doing well, the only challenge is getting the right machinery and packaging for her products.
Speaking to BCM News Transnet Corporate Affairs manager in the Port of East London Terry Taylor said their role at the symposium was to help new and small businesses to enter the export market.
He added that exporting has a number of role players that are involved like licencing, permitting, shipping lines etc and they saw an opportunity to explain the role of each one to the business owners that were present at the event.
“The symposium was a success, there was a huge variety in the programme and it was a good platform for the business owners to network,” said Taylor.
Addressing the business owners, Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism MEC Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane said they organised this platform for sharing of information between key industry players in the export market and business owners for the purpose of assisting them to overcome the challenges they might come across.
“When we come out of this session we should have a clear plan of action we will pursue to expand the exporter base, by including super exporters, SMMEs, HDI enterprises, secondary co-ops, export villages as well as black industrialists,” said Mabuyane.
ECDC Head of Trade, Investment and Innovation Thabo Shenxane said the symposium is for the economy of the province to accommodate emerging SMMEs who want to export.
“This event is important because the economy of the province is heavily dependent on the automotive sector, and we need to diversify the economy as the automotive sector is Europe controlled and if they decide to leave the province we are going to have a problem,” said Shenxane.
Invited stakeholders were Transnet, Department of Trade and Industry, Coega, Buffalo City Metro Municipality and the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Municipality.