The impact of CSl initiatives employed by the Contractor Academy at the Eskom Foundation

Abstract

The Eskom Contractor Academy is a programme initiated and customised by Eskom Foundation, in collaboration with EduPark and the University of Limpopo, to equip SME’s in various sectors with the necessary business skills to enable them to run sustainably. This research aimed to investigate the impact of the Eskom Contractor Academy on SME development, since its inception in 2007/2008. Thirty individuals were interviewed of which twenty seven were graduates of the academy, and three were facilitators and programme managers of the programme. The research methodology that was conducted was face to face and telephonic interviews. The study was done on graduates who graduated from the programme between 2007 and 2017, across seven provinces in South Africa. The results from the graduates showed that out of the twenty-seven students who were interviewed, two of them are no longer in business which has resulted in a 92.5% success rate. . The other results showed that graduates who completed the programme and are still in business had an increase in their company turnover from before they were in the programme to after their completion of the programme. Results also showed an increase in job creation, depicted by the number of permanent employees from before the programme to after the programme. Results showed continuation of operations by all graduates, except for the two graduates who were no longer in business. The SME's were able to diversify their businesses either within the same sector they were initially operating in, or into completely different sectors. The graduates from the academy acquired business management skills and further transferred skills to other staff in the business. In summation, the investigation showed that the Eskom was successful in using CSI through the Eskom Development Foundation as a tool to help assist SME's in achieving continued operations. The study also revealed that the programme had a positive impact on the majority of the businesses, as evidenced by an increase in sales, continuation in operations, job creation and diversification.