INVITATION || 10 November 2020 || The impact of corruption on SME growth in Africa
Invitation
HSRC Seminar series
WEBINAR ACCESS ONLY
The impact of corruption om SME growth in Africa: A case of South Korea’s SME governance practices for economic growth
Date: 10 November 2020
Time: 10h00 (Harere/Pretoria)
Please register beforehand on https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6mbbTG98QqCB6koArP2D8w
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6mbbTG98QqCB6koArP2D8w
Please find the recording link to your webinar here:
https://youtu.be/TgugGLDZCNM
Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) make up almost 90% of the world’s business population and more than 50% of employment worldwide. Formal SMEs contribute up to 40% of national income (GDP) jobs in developing markets. SME’s have played a significant role in aiding the growth of the Korean economy since the 1960’s. By 2018, SME contribution to South Korea’s national growth, ranking it amongst the top 21 in the world. Nevertheless, bribery and corruption have an estimated direct annual global cost of $3.6 trillion paid in bribes every year.
The rapid and emergency purchases to address the global pandemic, has exposed vulnerabilities in procurement systems that were already prone to fraud and corruption. Significant amounts of money have been flowing through global financial systems in the form of debt relief, loans from multilateral institutions and government stimulus packages with a reduction of oversight in emergency and fast-tracked public procurement procedures. This webinar is part of an SME acceleration research project which aims to examine the local and national governance mind sets regarding work ethics, accountability, corruption, entitlement, and Local Economic Development oversight. It also aims to assess the capacity of national governments and local economies to facilitate effective smart globally competitive African SME’s in the post COVID-19 era. South Korea is relevant to this critical study as it maintains a strong record of SME growth, and has remained a constructive development partner to the African continent.
This webinar will assist in paving the way to examine comparative best practices of South Korea for SME implementation. Programme Agenda Item Speaker Time Allocation Program Chair: Professor Narnia Bohler-Muller, Human Science Research Council
OPENING AND WELCOME
Professor Aggrey Ambali, Director, Technical Cooperation and Program Funding, African Union Development Agency – New Partnership for African Development 10:15 – 10:30
ACADEMIC ADDRESS
Professor Sope Williams-Elegbe, University of Stellenbosch 10:30 – 10:45
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
H.E. Dr. Jong-dae Park, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to South Africa 10:45 – 11:00
SCHOLARS PANEL: STRATEGIC WAY FORWARD
Chair: Francis Ikome, Chief of the Regional Integration Section, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Professor Jaehoon Lee Hankuk University of Foreign Studies 11:10 – 11:20 Advocate Gary Pienaar Human Sciences Research Council 11:20 – 11:30 Discussion ALL 11:30 – 12:00
CLOSING REMARKS:
Mrs Florence Nazare, Head of Technical Cooperation and Partnerships, African Union Development Agency – New Partnership for African Development
