The City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic, Environment and Spatial Planning, Alderman Belinda Walker, yesterday launched the Cape Town Activa Web Portal. The portal boasts a vast array of online resources, tools and links for those who want to start and develop a business or secure employment support in Cape Town.
Cape Town Activa is a City initiative that aims to develop a world-class ecosystem for entrepreneurs and job-seekers that will transform Cape Town into a city that is open for business and attractive to outside investors. Cape Town Activa was established to create an enabling environment for enhanced collaboration among public and private sector stakeholders interested in entrepreneurship.
With the launch of the portal, www.capetownactiva.com, the City’s vision of becoming a lucrative economic centre for entrepreneurship and small business is now one step closer to being realised.
Cape Town Activa seeks to lobby issues facing entrepreneurs and small business owners, ultimately giving them a unified voice, and provide a first stop solution to anyone operating in this space. From an individual with a business idea, but no plan to get it off the ground; to a business owner in the first few years of operation requiring access to an incubator environment; or an established business owner looking to take their venture to the next level – it just got a whole lot easier with the development of the new online resource.
Lavendra Naidoo, General Manager of The Business Place eKapa, the Implementing Agency of the Cape Town Activa initiative, commented on this latest announcement that will see technology driving economic development: “Every internet café, public library and smart phone just became an Activa branch, thanks to the new user-friendly web portal. We are very excited that this resource-rich portal will now be accessible to anyone with an internet connection, negating the need to catch a train or take a taxi to an Activa centre.”
By connecting entrepreneurs to organisations keen to support their endeavours, exciting business potential is maximised. Cape Town Activa bridges the gap between where these small business owners are currently and where they want to be. In addition, the initiative seeks to contribute to the development of human capital by creating a mechanism to make job-seekers in the city more employable and direct them towards support services wherever possible.
A key component of this business ecosystem is the support organisation network. These organisations provide a myriad of skills, training, information and tools for entrepreneurs that offer a catalyst to economic development. For any organisation looking to offer such support and become involved in a dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem mandated by the City, the possibility of an exciting partnership awaits by registering on the Web Portal www.capetownactiva.com to ensure the best possible service offering to the citizens of Cape Town.
Alderman Belinda Walker said: “Cape Town is positioning itself as an Opportunity City for entrepreneurs and we continue to work on removing barriers to entry. Cape Town Activa is one of our chief initiatives which will create the enabling environment that will allow entrepreneurs to seize these opportunities.”
“All players in this exciting space are encouraged to get connected and explore the potential for renewed business prospects in Cape Town and citizens to make use of the information and support provided by the web portal, ” Alderman Walker added.
Cape Town Activa ultimately aims to develop a world-class entrepreneurship and job-seekers ecosystem that transforms Cape Town into the entrepreneur’s city of choice on the continent and a city open for business for outside investors. With the launch of Cape Town Activa’s new web portal, the initiative is one step closer to reaching this goal. Visit www.capetownactiva.com.
Join the other online conversations with Cape Town Activa on Facebook at www.facebook.com/capetownactiva or on Twitter at @ctactiva
