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Opportunity Issue 104

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Opportunity magazine is a niche business-to-business publication that explores various investment opportunities within Southern Africa’s economic sectors. The publication is endorsed by the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI).

SACCI Provocative

SACCI Provocative thoughts on the future of the chamber movement The speech by Advocate Mtho Xulu, President of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI), on the occasion of the 2022 SACCI Annual Convention, Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, 24 November 2022. do not take our fiduciary responsibilities lightly, nor do we take the public's trust in organised business for granted. It is therefore with a clean conscience that I reaffirm the commitment of our Board and Council, that for as long as we have the honour to serve our members and the South African economy, we will uphold the highest standards of corporate governance, professionalism, integrity and value-adding service for our members and stakeholders. The President of SACCI, Advocate Mtho Xulu, the Premier of Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi, and SACCI CEO Alan Mukoki. It is a great honour to host you once again at this muchanticipated SACCI Business Gala Dinner, in celebration of the national business chamber movement and the private sector in the Republic of South Africa. This gala dinner is the third part of our statutory Annual Convention, which includes the Annual General Meeting and the Business Conference. We thank all our guests and stakeholders who participated in the conference, which was meant to stimulate and strengthen dialogue among industry peers on the state and future of our economy and on how the private sector is willing and able to play a constructive role in a society of shared prosperity. I also have the pleasure of reporting to you publicly as our stakeholders that at last month's AGM, we successfully concluded the prescribed business of the AGM as determined by our Memorandum of Incorporation. More specifically, the AGM adopted the annual performance report, elected new board members and secured a clean audit outcome from our external auditors. This year's successful AGM is once again an important sign of our ongoing commitment to good governance and accountability to our members and stakeholders. We Year under review Tonight's gala dinner is the first since 2019, following the past two tough years that we had to endure under the Covid-19 pandemic. It was indeed a difficult time for our economy, our members and no less for us as SACCI. On the negative side, the slowdown in the economy meant that our stakeholders and members could no longer extend resources to the chamber movement, as they rightfully attempted to save and readjust their own businesses. On the positive side, the pandemic amplified the resilience of the team at SACCI and the relevance of our organisation in the South African economic landscape. Through this harsh episode of the pandemic, the staff of SACCI voluntarily endured limited resources, at great sacrifice to themselves and their families. Beyond this sacrifice, the SACCI team went on to play a vital role in representing the private sector in collaboration and negotiations with the state, labour and communities in the national consensus which was created at the time to save lives and livelihoods. SACCI was a founding member of Business for South Africa in 2020. Business for South Africa (B4SA) is an alliance of South African volunteers working with the South African government and other social partners, as well as various other stakeholders, to mobilise business resources and capacity to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. The outcomes of the B4SA initiative form the bedrock of our economic recovery strategy and are linked back into the SACCI Organisational Strategic Pillars, for which we formed and continue to run economic recovery workstreams in the following priority sectors: • Energy and water • Mining • Infrastructure development • Local manufacturing • Transport networks • Agriculture and agro-processing 10 | www.opportunityonline.co.za

SACCI While such costs still exist, they are dramatically lower for many businesses; some businesses have become transnational to the extent that they likely have more resources available to manage these issues than chambers. Thought 3: Competitive chambers As business became more global, chambers have tried to manage potential conflicts across boundaries on an ad hoc basis. Some chambers market to businesses in geographies they don’t serve in order to attract companies to their geography. In other cases, chambers help members export goods or even business activities to other geographies. In some cases, chambers can collaborate to support businesses of mutual interest; a chamber may find its services compete with another chamber. Advocate Mtho Xulu delivers the presidential address to the SACCI Annual Convention. • Financial services • Telecommunications • Tourism and leisure • Education and skills. New normal and the future of the chamber movement As we emerge from the era of Covid-19 and acclimatise to the new normal of the chamber movement and future of organised business, SACCI will be implementing the internationally-renowned Chamber Model Innovation, as developed by the World Chamber Federation. Four Provocative Thoughts for the Future We will begin implementing the models on the basis of what the World Chamber Federation calls the four provocative thoughts for the future: Thought 1: Reassessing the purpose of chambers Our observation is that chambers of commerce have historically focused on supporting businesses and business ecosystems for a variety of purposes and outcomes. Some of these services, such as government-policy advocacy, are both long-term and distanced from most day-to-day challenges of businesses. Some services such as networking and general business guidance are commoditised by online communication and data systems. In other words, while these needs still broadly exist for businesses and business ecosystems, the supply and value associated with serving these needs has changed dramatically. Thought 2: The global chamber Chambers of commerce have historically focused on supporting businesses and business ecosystems based on geographic and state boundaries. In South Africa, this tends to be city and provincial boundaries. This made sense because the majority of business was limited by transportation and communication costs as well as the cost of managing multiple cultural and regulatory systems across state boundaries. Thought 4: Experimental business-platform chambers Chambers of commerce have historically focused on supporting businesses and business ecosystems for a variety of purposes and outcomes. Almost all of these services, however, are focused on current business activities (aside from, potentially, policy advocacy). Many businesses, however, regularly explore new opportunities, including business model innovation. Chambers of commerce have potentially unique access to business trends and B2B customer information. At the global level, chambers could provide trusted access to the largest possible audience of business customers as a resource for “lean startup” experimentation. Conclusion In conclusion, we commit ourselves to a new era for a privatesector-led economic prosperity that will unlock new value building through organised business formations. We will also support public sector economic development initiatives such as the Gauteng Provincial Government’s "Grow Gauteng Together", as this is the hub of the economy and gateway into the South Africa economy. The SACCI Gala Dinner followed the AGM and the Business Conference. www.opportunityonline.co.za | 11

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