Written by Karabo Dhlamini, The Hope Factory – March 2021
In 2019 The Hope Factory (THF) partnered with the ASISA Foundation, a Non-Profit Organisation founded by the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (ASISA). Together they
implemented the Financial Literacy and Micro Enterprise Programme (FLAME 2.0) in King
Williams Town (KWT). The FLAME programme empowers beneficiaries from previous disadvantaged communities with basic entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills to foster
financial capability and enable greater economic activity.
The programme runs over three phases, initially starting with phase one which concluded in
November 2019 with 44 participants. Phase two began in November 2019 and is planned to end
in March 2021. The third and final phase will focus on supporting the entrepreneurs in KWT by
offering regular business support and coaching to continue to grow and sustain their business
through the on-going pandemic.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most face-to-face programmes such as the FLAME Programme,
had to adapt to virtual methods last year. Despite new challenges of adapting to virtual methods, the FLAME Programme team as well as the coaches played an essential role of
checking up on the participants on a weekly basis. This was very effective in terms of giving the entrepreneurs hope and uplifting their spirits. The #Bounceback campaign was a key marketing intervention in 2020 that aimed at capturing the essence of human spirit found in the FLAME
entrepreneurs. The campaign aimed to amplify the stories of tenacity and recovery of the small
businesses through the pandemic and the lockdown period.
“The #Bounceback campaign proved that the participants stayed committed to the programme
even though their businesses were badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to
Bernadette Koert, Socio-Economic Development Programme Manager at The Hope Factory.
She added that one of the great take-away for participants was the importance of learning how to pivot their businesses in order to survive in the market and to now focus on different income
streams.
Chicken farmer, Nolitha’s #Bounceback story
Meet Nolitha Nyikana Linti Nyiks, owner and founder of the ‘Funky Farmer’ farming enterprise.
Nolitha is a chicken farmer [broiler chickens] and before lockdown she had 100 chickens in a
6-week cycle. Every third week she would add 100 chickens. However, when interprovincial travel was prohibited during the early stages of lockdown, she struggled to get broiler chickens
and her business started struggling. Nevertheless, she persevered through the hard times and
continued to show resilience with the support and guidance from the FLAME programme team.
Through the support (training and mentoring) she received on the FLAME Programme, Nolitha is now able to put 200 broiler chickens out per week. She says that she also applied for the
Covid-19 Relief fund from the Department of Rural Development and was awarded vouchers to the value of R50 000. “I was able to purchase vaccines, broiler chicken feed, medication, and
sawdust and I am now able to produce 600 chickens a month!”
Regardless of the challenges that were faced through virtual training, the FLAME beneficiaries in KWT continued to show resilience and are still part of the programme. The programme was amongst the few in South Africa which survived the pandemic through adapting to online training and coaching. The programme offered continued support to the SMMES with the
following initiatives:
Additional revision workshops of key financial literacy components
Checkers vouchers as an incentive for endurance
Monthly coaching support and continued training of key business principles
Business strategies and business model canvas completion
These support initiatives have resulted in the following impact in the King Williams Town
programme:
87% of participants are still trading
33% of participants pivoted and introduced a new business focus
2 participants successfully received government funding
“The positive results of FLAME not only confirm the relevance of our programme, but will
influence the ASISA Foundation’s strategy and approach going forward,” said Ruth
Benjamin-Swales, ASISA Foundation CEO.
“Beneficiaries confirmed that the ASISA Foundation programmes have helped them during
lockdown – both financially and psychologically – to be more resilient, to cope better, to be
more strategic about managing their affairs, and to be more hopeful and confident about the
future.”
