Nestlé South Africa and the Department of Small Business Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the commitment to source and develop micro-distributors primarily located in townships and rural areas. The signing ceremony which took place at the annual Proudly South African Summit, was attended by the Minister of Small Business Development, Honourable Lindiwe Zulu, senior government officials and business representatives.

Through this partnership, Nestlé South Africa and the Department of Small Business Development are committing to creating and recruiting 200 micro-distributors from 2017 to 2020. Each micro-distributor will employ at least three additional permanent employees thus creating 600 jobs over the three years. 

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister Zulu said, “We are proud of this partnership with Nestlé South Africa as it supports our mission of providing a conducive environment for the development and growth of small businesses and cooperatives. We hope that this partnership will encourage other companies to follow suit by unlocking opportunities that can create decent work.”

Nestlé South Africa, together with the Department of Small Business Development and its agencies, will provide financial support to the micro-distributors. They will also be upskilled in the areas of sales and merchandising, warehouse management as well as financial management. Furthermore, the micro-distributors will be provided with vehicles for selling and merchandising.

Commenting on the partnership, Ravi Pillay, Corporate Affairs Director for Nestlé South Africa said, “This MOU augurs well for inclusive business in South Africa. It is aligned to our business principle of Creating Shared Value which states that for a business to be successful in the long term, it must create value for communities where it operates.”

Nestlé South Africa has been operating in South Africa for 100 years and is a member of the Proudly South African campaign whose members are required to make a meaningful contribution to building South Africa's economy by alleviating unemployment.

“In a country where the unemployment rate, particularly of the youth, is very high, we believe that we have a responsibility as a company to assist in developing and supporting emerging entrepreneurs. This initiative will enable us to bring our much loved products closer to the people who need them the most,” Pillay concluded.