Despite the many impressive gains made in the first economy, many of the benefits of growth have yet to reach those in the second economy even though there are a number of interventions that have been made in this regard.
This was the prevailing sentiment of partners present at the National Conference on Second Economy Communication. The conference was held on Wednesday, November 21, at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) headquarters in Midrand.
The Conference brought together stakeholders to deliberate on how to scale up second economy communication in a way that would create more awareness and access to economic opportunities for the poor.
There was recognition of the need to work together to achieve the common goals of shared growth and development. To this end, a communication partnership which seeks to expand access to information is being built, to focus on expanding access to information that those who are economically marginalised can use to improve their lives. Stakeholders came from all the spheres of government, print and broadcast media, development finance institutions, National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) as well as non-governmental organisations.
Inputs were made by the Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Elizabeth Thabethe, the CEO of NEDLAC, Herbert Mkhize, who chaired the conference.
In the keynote address, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngquka pointed out that our economy is growing and will continue to grow but the challenge is in ensuring that the growth is shared by all. People without access to information are disempowered and excluded, she said, pointing out that “we need to talk about large scale interventions to make a large and sustainable impact and communication is part of such interventions”.
The Deputy President called for a buy-in from the private sector and the media to assist in getting the information across to the rightful recipients. It was against this background that the partnership was initiated and to also ensure a collective effort in bridging the gap between the poor and the well-off.
Enquiries
Tony Trew
Cell: 082 555 8346
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp