The Department of Trade and Industry is pleased to announce the approval of two Equity Equivalent Investment programmes by Liebherr-Africa (Pty) Ltd and Hansen Transmissions (Pty) Ltd.
Following the signing of equity equivalent agreements with both multinationals, the Minister of Trade and Industry has approved the launch of the proposed Equity Equivalent Investment programmes. This approval will entitle both multinationals to 20 points under the ownership element of code 100 of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) codes of good practice.
Liebherr�"Africa (Pty) Ltd, a Swiss multinational operating in the manufacturing industry, will partner with Ikhaya Fundisa Techniskills Academy (Pty) Ltd (IFTA) to form the Liebherr Training Academy which will provide skills in the engineering and technical sector to black school leavers and black unemployed youth. The value of their contribution is R18,200 million which will be invested into Ikhaya Fundisa Techniskills Academy to implement the training programme.
The objective of the Liebherr Training Academy is to offer a specialised technical and support stream of training with a goal of providing the beneficiaries with the capacity to be placed in gainful employment. The Liebherr Academy will train 75 students per annum over a six year period, where the students will then be placed in gainful employment within the engineering field following completion of the relevant training programmes.
Hansen Transmissions (Pty) Ltd will establish the Ulwazi Express, which is a Socio-Economic Development programme designed in the form of an electronic information transmission platform, to marginalised communities in the rural or under-developed areas of South Africa. The value of Hansen’s contribution for the Equity Equivalent Investment is R8,574 million and will be spread a period of seven years.
The objective of the Ulwazi Express is to deliver knowledge and information to people in disadvantaged communities in both rural and underdeveloped urban areas (particularly the youth) by providing them, amongst other things, access to educational material with a special focus on mathematics, science and life skills, as well as facilitating youth participation for creative industries. More importantly, by enhancing the digital infrastructure in underdeveloped areas, the Ulwazi Express will be making the delivery of other media content possible thus going a long way in bridging the digital divide.
A key area that the Ulwazi Express will be focusing on is providing supplementary and complementary content to curriculum, as set by the Department of Education, to schools in underdeveloped areas in the North West province.
The Equity Equivalent Investment programme is a programme available to multinationals operating in the South African economy, who due to global practices are unable to sell direct equity and therefore cannot participate in equity ownership as per statement 100 of the B-BBEE codes of good practice. These multinationals may make contributions in lieu of selling direct equity in programmes geared at accelerating transformation as per the B-BBEE Act no 53 of 2003.
As part of the equity equivalent agreement both the Hansen Transmissions and Liebherr-Africa initiatives will be monitored by the Department of Trade and Industry on a quarterly, bi-annual and annual basis, through the Equity Equivalent Investment Committee.
The Liebherr Academy addresses a strategic objective of Broad�"Based Black Economic Empowerment through the acceleration of transformation within a key sector of the economy by providing skills development and increased employment opportunities in the engineering field. Hansen’s Ulwazi express will also be addressing an important objective of transformation by tackling the issue of infrastructure development and access to information in rural areas.
The Department of Trade and industry extends its support to the two multinationals and wishes Liebherr�"Africa and Hansen Transmissions well in the implementation of these exciting new Equity Equivalent Investment programmes.
For more information contact:
Tenjwase Gumede
Cell: 012 394 1099
E-mail: TLPGumede@thedti.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Trade and industry
5 March 2010
