Non-profit Organisation Registration Number: 004 - 529 - NPO
HISTORY

In 1991, senior partners of PricewaterhouseCoopers recognised a need to transfer useful business skills to owner-managers of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), and based on the British Skills Seminar Programme in the United Kingdom, the Business Skills for South Africa Foundation (BSSA) was born. PricewaterhouseCoopers approached the National Industrial Chamber, the manufacturing sector of NAFCOC, to be the founding partner of the BSSA, bringing with it an intimate knowledge of the SMME market. The BSSA Foundation was formally established as a non-profit trust early in 1994.

From the outset, the BSSA’s focus has been on SMMEs that are already in business, with a belief that these existing operations would improve their operations and, in growing, create viable job opportunities. This view has been substantiated over the years, although the need to also support those wishing to start businesses of their own remains important. BSSA thus trains both start-ups and entrepreneurs wishing to grow their businesses.