Fikile Maliti and Aphelele Ndesi, two local farmers in Noupoort, are taking the lessons learnt during an Enterprise Development Programme, to grow their poultry and egg laying business.

These two community entrepreneurs graduated from an Enterprise Development Programme that was funded by Noupoort Wind Farm last year and are already reaping the benefits.  The programme was commenced during 2016 and continues to benefit local entrepreneurs, having celebrated 25 start-ups and 28 existing businesses. This initiative continues to assist those who wish to get new businesses off the ground as well as existing entrepreneurs who needed skills to move forward with their business vision.

Fikile Maliti, owner of Karoo Fresh Eggs, had been supplying eggs from his home for about a year when he joined the course.

“We accepted Fikile onto the programme because of his willingness to learn and to grow his business from a hobby into an operational enterprise through hard work, persistence and perseverance,” explained Economic Development Manager for Noupoort Wind Farm, Livhuwani Nwachukwu.

Karoo Fresh Eggs is situated just outside of Noupoort town and now supplies the local community as well as supplying eggs to both the public and small retailers in Middelburg and Colesburg. The sponsorship has given Fikile a tremendous grounding and a boost for his business, through technical knowledge and skills improvement.  The theoretical understanding has boosted his confidence to grow his business from a side line operation to a fully operational business.

Similarly, Aphelele Ndesi had been a member of a co-operative for a short period, before attending the course, and has now managed to expand his business to supply chickens to the local informal sector and public, as well as further afield. “Aphelele now sees the business potential, which has increased his self-confidence and encouraged him to take on more of a leadership role,” added Nwachukwu.

March 2018