Your Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment certificate has become your licence to do business in South Africa. It ensures that your business has increased credibility, allowing your company to gain access to better contracts with government institutions and other institutions. But how can a business go about maximising their B-BBEE scorecard – and why is this necessary for the development and betterment of South Africa as a whole?
“Simply put, B-BBEE is the cornerstone of the South African Government’s efforts to educate and train the large sector of the population that was previously disadvantaged,” says Angie Lanham-Love, CEO of Lanham-Love Consulting. “By encouraging transformation in key areas of business, such as ownership, management control, employment equity and skills development, to name but a few, it’s goal is to accelerate the participation of black people in the economy.”
“This does not have to be an onerous task,” says Lanham-Love. “Though improving your B-BBEE scorecard can seem to be complicated and confusing, it is, in fact, rather straight forward if you know what you’re doing. The trick is to approach B-BBEE in a measured, strategic way that will ensure that your BEE is in fact transformative, as well as being an investment in your business for the future.”
“One of the best ways in which to maximise your B-BBEE scorecard is to focus on skills development,” says Lanham-Love. “As an example, through our partnership with our sister company, The LLC Academy, we can promise that every R100 you spend with us in terms of skills development counts on your B-BBEE procurement scorecard as R500, over and above the points scored on skills development. This is because every R100 spent with the LLC Academy counts 4 times as R125 – it is counted under BEE Procurement Spend from Empowering Suppliers, Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs), a 51% Black Owned Entity, as well as bonus points for procurement from a 51% Black Designated Group, as laid out in the Amended Codes of Good Practice.”
“All to often, when we are approached by businesses looking for assistance with their B-BBEE compliance, they are seeing it as a grudge expense – necessary in order to do business in South Africa, but not necessarily resulting in a benefit for their company as whole,” says Lanham-Love. “Once we have the opportunity to show them how simple compliance can be, this attitude changes. It changes even further when they fully understand why B-BBEE is so vital to the longevity of their business in South Africa.”
“When implemented correctly, B-BBEE supports job creation, global competitiveness and economic growth” says Lanham-Love. “It also has the potential to reduce the burden on entrepreneurs and help to create a more skilled workforce, which in its turn helps to make South Africa a better place for everyone who lives here. As I’ve mentioned previously, this isn’t a case of dividing the cake of the existing South African economy up into smaller slices in order for everyone to get a piece, resulting in less cake – it’s about making a cake big enough so that there is more than enough for everybody.”
Speak to the experts at Lanham-Love Consulting today if you want to maximise your B-BBEE scorecard, and benefit from an investment in your business – and South Africa.