Anglo American has announced a new enterprise development venture that will help to generate more jobs, support entrepreneurship and strengthen local economies in South Africa.
This commitment is a pledge to the Business Call to Action (BCtA) – a global initiative that challenges companies to apply their core business expertise, technology and innovative spirit to tackle poverty, promote growth in developing countries and contribute to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Anglo American is the first company from the extractive industry to have a project accepted by the BCtA.
Money for jobs
Anglo American’s commitment to the BCtA is to establish 12 enterprise development hubs in high unemployment areas in South Africa, within the ongoing Anglo Zimele initiative. This venture is expected to create 25,000 new jobs in up to 1,500 new businesses across South Africa over the next seven years.
Anglo American will provide financing for small business start-up funds targeting the most vulnerable segments of society, in addition to providing mentoring and access to supply chain opportunities. Looking to the future, Anglo American will also seek to further increase its enterprise development activities in Chile and Brazil.
Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said, "We are delighted that the expansion of Anglo American’s long-established Anglo Zimele programme has been recognised by the Business Call to Action and we are continuing to review further opportunities to grow this successful and enormously valuable community
programme."
"Long term economic growth is vital to the fight against global poverty and business investment is vital to building economic growth," said Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). "Today, business leaders are rewriting the value equation, to show that true worth comes not only from profits but from making a positive difference."
The MDGs are eight goals that respond to the world's main development challenges to be reached by 2015. They were adopted by 189 world leaders at the Millennium Summit in 2000. The Goals represent a global commitment to promote poverty reduction, education, maternal health and gender equality and aim to combat child mortality, AIDS and other diseases. Since 2008, 19 companies have developed business initiatives that contribute to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to their own commercial success.
