4TH QUARTER CORPORATE MATCHMAKING

The Corporate Matchmaking event for the 4th quarter of 2018 was held on Tuesday, 20 November at the offices of EY in Sandton, Johannesburg. For the fourth time this year, we received enormous support from corporates, who convened earlier in the morning of the event for the Advisory Council meeting to discuss the progress of WEConnect International in South Africa and commit to continuing support for the organization. Sinqobile Khumalo, EY’s Emerging Markets Region Team Member, Business Enablement, Talent Acquisition Lead, said, “This was the fourth matchmaking event hosted at the EY offices this year, wrapping up what has been a great year of collaboration with WEConnect International and the women business enterprises.”

Women business enterprises started arriving at midday, and there was an undeniable air of excitement as eight of the women-owned companies in attendance were recently certified, making this their very first Matchmaking session with WEConnect International. These companies are Equitable Proxies, Net Campus, Rapid Allweiler, Adelia Creations Enterprise, Energy Dots, Larona Consulting, and Lumamu Consulting. The latter four companies had their certifications sponsored by Johnson & Johnson after winning a pitch competition in August during an event hosted together by WEConnect International in South Africa, the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, and Johnson & Johnson.

Several corporate representatives gave business to some of the new WBEs during the event. Our local corporate member ABSA made it their objective to make this quarter’s Matchmaking event worthwhile for the WBEs in attendance by bringing with them 15 buyers from various sectors within their company. Michal Pillay, Vice President Enterprise & Supplier Development, Africa Sourcing at ABSA said, “The best way to interact with the WBEs and meet their needs is to bring in the buyers they will be working directly with.”

Chairperson of the Advisory Council, Jacob Pretorius who is the GS Sourcing Team Lead in South Africa, addressed the WBEs and encouraged them to speak up on their successes. “We have a good record of success stories, and we need to focus on reporting more on that.”