Learning and development plays a major role in the IDC’s Leadership in Development strategy through the use of focused strategies targeted at existing clients, potential clients, other Development Finance Institutions and other DTI agencies.
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Eric Langalakhe Mahamba-Sithole
Head of Learning and Development (External) Department – IDC |
Access magazine spoke to Eric
Mahamba-Sithole, Head of IDC’s
Learning & Development (External)
Department to learn more about how
the department provides support
through formal training, secondments,
and strategic liaisons.
What type of learning and development
programmes do you offer to SME clients?
Entrepreneurship courses for SME
clients – These are intensive, four-day,
practical, board game-based courses in
which IDC clients and clients of
provincial DFIs are trained in basic
business skills. In the last IDC financial
year, 682 SME clients and potential
clients were trained in locations across
the country. We shall escalate the
delivery of these courses in the current
financial year.
Are you planning on launching any new
programmes this year?
One of the major challenges faced by
South African SMEs is the shortage of
an abundant local pool of appropriately
skilled and semi-skilled workers to drive
their businesses. To address this issue,
we shall be launching a new training
product for our clients this year called
the Basic Skills Training Initiative. For
example, we are currently talking to a
media training institute regarding plans
to sponsor current and potential
community printing Small and Medium
Enterprise (SME) owners and
employees to attend specialist printing
short courses. In this way, the IDC adds
value to its development financing
value chain.
How does the IDC assist in addressing the
country’s capacity building needs?
Secondments and assignments – A lot
of struggling DFIs in South Africa and
across the African continent are in dire
need of capacity building in order to
achieve their provincial and national
developmental mandates. The IDC,
being a long-established institution
with an impressive empowerment and
development track record and a wealth
of highly experienced staff members,
has committed itself to assisting other
DFIs with capacity building through the
secondment and assignment of IDC
staff to these institutions, as well as
hosting their staff on secondment to
the IDC.
How does the IDC keep abreast of global
developments in the field of learning and
development best practice?
Strategic Liaisons – The IDC’s Learning
and Development External department
strategically liaises with local, regional
and international organizations in order
to keep abreast with international best
practice in the field. This approach
benefits not only the IDC and its
investee companies, but also exposes
other DFIs to IDC operations and best
practices. In August last year, the
department hosted the 2006 SADC DFI
Network HR Conference, attended by HR
heads from various SADC countries. The
highlight of the conference was the laying
of the groundwork for the formation of
the SADC DFI Network HR Forum which
will spearhead HR reforms. Other
conferences and workshops hosted and
funded by the IDC were the United
Nations Africa Consultation Roundtable
on the future of DFIs, the UN International
Trade Centre’s first MLS-IPSCM Network
Roundtable for Africa, and the ITC’s
workshop for selected Southern African
countries aimed at promoting and
facilitating horticultural trade in the subregion
through improved management of
supply chains.
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