Don’t sponsor an event. Help build a South African business programme.

Partners take a defined role in a 20-year programme, starting in Gauteng in 2027, and receive reporting on what changed for the businesses they support.

How can a company partner with Gateway for Business?

Companies can partner as Founding Partners, who each lead one area of the programme on a three-year term from 2027 to 2029, or through purpose-led packages such as sponsoring a cohort of start-ups, opening procurement through Meet the Buyer, or leading the Technology Zone. Every partnership is tied to defined deliverables and impact reporting.

Nine ways to take part

Each partner owns a role, not a logo placement. Most partners combine two or three.

Funders

Pay for seats, memberships and support for entrepreneurs.

Buyers

Create procurement opportunities and brief suppliers.

Experts

Provide speakers, clinic advisors and library content.

Mentors

Second staff to guide cohorts over six to twelve months.

Technology partners

Give access to tools, licences and adoption support.

Financial partners

Provide finance, financial education and funding routes.

Market access partners

Open new provinces, sectors and export markets.

Research partners

Co-author the Business Growth Report and evaluate impact.

Business in a Box sponsors

Fund starter kits that get new businesses online, taking payments and invoicing.

Founding Partners

A small group of organisations that each lead one area of the programme. None funds the whole thing. Executive Conference Events runs the programme and brings the partners together.

Founding seat	Area led	What the partner contributes	What the partner receives
Bank	Finance and financial literacy	Funding, Finance Zone lead, money-skills content, mentors	A qualified pipeline of SME customers; financial-inclusion impact data
Technology company	Digital transformation	Tool access, Technology Zone, AI and digital content	SME adoption, product feedback, a co-branded technology index
Professional services firm	Legal, accounting and advisory	Clinic advisors, templates, compliance content	Relationships with growing firms; thought leadership
Corporate buyer	Procurement and supplier development	Procurement briefings, Meet the Buyer, a supplier-development cohort	Pre-qualified, procurement-ready suppliers; ESD reporting
Telecommunications company	Connectivity and digital access	Data for low-bandwidth access, devices for sponsored participants	An inclusion story; SME connectivity customers
University or education partner	Skills and research	Research methodology, evaluation, student talent	Data access for research; graduate pathways
Development organisation	Entrepreneurship and inclusion	Sponsored seats, township and rural outreach	Measured reach into priority communities

Fits the budgets you already have

Companies fund small-business growth for different reasons, so partnerships can be structured around:

Enterprise and supplier development (ESD)
Socio-economic development and CSI
Procurement and supplier development
ESG and economic inclusion
Marketing and customer acquisition
Skills development

Whether a contribution counts towards your B-BBEE scorecard depends on how it is structured and verified. Confirm treatment with your verification agency; we’ll structure cohorts and reporting to support that process.

What you receive

A quarterly dashboard on your sponsored cohort
An annual impact report on what changed for your businesses
Named case studies, with the businesses’ consent
Data aligned to your ESD, CSI or ESG reporting
A seat on the Founding Partner Council (Founding Partners)

How terms work

An initial three-year term from 2027 to 2029, reviewed each year against agreed outcomes. Founding Partners have first right of renewal on their area.

What partners have in mind

“We’ll sponsor 200 entrepreneurs.”

A bank

“We’ll put 50 SMEs onto our tools.”

A technology company

“We’ll take 25 businesses into our supplier-development programme.”

A corporate buyer

Illustrative examples of partnership shapes.

Partner