Due to the economic hardships experienced during the pandemic, Discovery relaxed loan terms for some of our SMME beneficiaries on request. As overseen by the Chair of the Social and Ethics Committee, we also remained in regular contact with our ESD beneficiaries to understand what additional support they needed to help sustain their businesses.
The Discovery Business Centre in Orange Farm is managed by Township Fleva on behalf of Discovery. As a commercial engagement, we provided a grant in December 2020 to equip Township Fleva to provide support to 30 entrepreneurs identified through the Business Centre through an incubation programme to help them create and sustain businesses. We ran a COVID-19 Alleviation Plan to support 26 of these entrepreneurs on request, including the distribution of food vouchers, data vouchers, soap, sanitizer and face masks. Free and anonymous psychosocial support services are also made available via WhatsApp, telephone or email.
The Business Centre provides pro bono and in-kind engagements through coaching and training - with business coaching sessions conducted online and bi-weekly. Some face-to-face training sessions were held at the Business Centre, with topics on business development areas like "Finding your Customers", "Pitching to Investors" and "Business Resuscitation". These were based on an in-depth needs analysis conducted by an external business coach. Discovery staff is also involved in the Business Centre, who provided Masterclasses to support businesses within the Hub.