MEDIA RELEASE
NO. 375/ 2009
19 JUNE 2009

A Cape Town-based project that incentivises the poor has won second prize and 20 000 Euros in this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Competition 2009 (GEC 09).

Speaking from Barcelona, the City’s Executive Director: Economic, Social Development and Tourism, Mansoor Mohamed, said the Broccoli Project, which encourages the poor to attend skills training workshops in exchange for vouchers for food and shelter, faced stiff competition from 25 other finalists. It was also acknowledged as the project with the most social value and this earned the Broccoli Project another 5 000 Euros.

GEC’09 provides a selection of entrepreneurs from all over the world the opportunity to present their business plans and projects to an audience of potential investors with the objective of raising new capital. The nominees also have the opportunity to initiate relations with the investors.

“The team is very excited to have beaten the tough competition from around the world,” Mohamed said. “HiT Barcelona showcased the best high potential new business ideas from entrepreneurs from around the world and The Broccoli Project did exceptionally well to come second and win an additional category."

Mohamed, who is also a Global Nominating Member for the GEC 09 competition, said: “The Broccoli Project has beaten stiff competition in the Healthcare, Telecoms and Cleantech industries which again reaffirms Cape Town’s positioning as a friendly place for emerging entrepreneurs. The global investor community present at GEC´09 has redefined the concept of shareholder value by placing their vote with The Broccoli Project. People want to make a difference to the lives of ordinary people and that is why I think they voted for The Broccoli Project.”

The City of Cape Town also lead a delegation of local business leaders to Barcelona, Spain for bilateral economic talks with the Barcelona City Council and to establish an entrepreneurship ecosystem in Cape Town on similar principles to those employed so successfully by the City of Barcelona. "The City of Cape Town successfully concluded an agreement with the Barcelona City Council to perform a thorough review and analysis of our entrepreneurship institutions in Cape Town and to design a Phase I implementation plan for the establishment of a fully fledged entrepreneurship support system. The agreement will be ratified by Council later this year," says Mohamed.

“Cape Town is blessed with a wealth of entrepreneurs and the City of Cape Town aims to strategically position the city as a globally competitive entrepreneurial hub. A recent Cape Town Graduate School of Business concluded that Cape Town is by far ‘the most entrepreneurial city in South Africa’ with a ranking 190% greater than South Africa’s national average,” says Mohamed.


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ISSUED BY:
COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT
CITY OF CAPE TOWN
TEL: 021 400 3719

MEDIA QUERIES:
MANSOOR MOHAMED
CELL: 084 421 4428

MARC ANTHONY ZIMMERMAN
THE BROCCOLI PROJECT
CELL: 082 334 3113 (OR IN SPAIN 00.34.663.658.863 UNTIL 12:00 ON SATURDAY, 20 JUNE)