BEE in IT: HP’s Business Institute teaches hot skills

HP is on the road to transformation and empowerment.

The launch of the HP Business Institute (HPBI) is the latest milestone. It is an academy that will increase the pool of IT talent in South Africa’s majority black community. The Institute is part of HP’s commitment to a growth strategy that targets inequality in the South African economy.

HP was the first company to obtain approval for such a programme under the government’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) initiative.

The HP Business Institute will fast-track young graduates and black employees of Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMME’s), empowering them with the skills they need to compete successfully in the ICT sector. The shortage of IT skills is a strong barrier to development in South Africa. 

“As an entrepreneur, I identify strongly with HPBI as my own business has grown predominantly through training and appropriate skills development,” said Ann Kleynhans, Managing Director of CEOS Technologies, one of HP’s partners participating in the programme. “Technology can certainly assist in helping to resolve unemployment.  The way HP has approached the SMB sector and skills development is exactly what the ICT industry requires.  I would like to think that in two years, the SMME ICT industry will have grown tremendously.”

The Institute is a significant part of HP’s overall B-BBEE strategy and brings HP’s total investment in B-BBEE initiatives to over €15 million. HP will identify up to 300 students annually who will be placed in short term skills programmes and one year traineeships. The first group of students will commence their studies in February 2008.

“Enterprise and skills development is critical to economic growth, especially in the ICT sector,” explained Thoko Mokgosi-Mwantembe, CEO of HP South Africa. “Ultimately, HPBI will assist SMME’s in boosting their skills and productivity levels, allowing them to operate and compete at the highest possible business level.”

HP South Africa has always been committed to promoting empowerment and ascribes to the underlying principles of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) as the key to realising its full potential as a company and as a business imperative.

In August this year, the South African Government announced that HP was the first company to obtain approval for an equity investment proposal under B-BBEE. HP is now funding the development of the HP Business Institute (HPBI) as an independently run enterprise and skills development programme.

Speaking about the HPBI in August this year, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mandisi Mpahlwa said, “As the first equity equivalent proposal to have been approved by Government, we are pleased that another significant milestone has been achieved in the country’s transformation process.”

HP’s commitment to transformation in the ICT sector and the broader South African economy has been evidenced by its excellent achievements against the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) gazetted Codes of Good Practice. HP has achieved a Level 2 Contributor (≥85%) status to B-BBEE. This is the total score against the seven elements of B-BBEE, externally certified by KPMG.

 “HP is committed to diversity and as such has always embraced the principles of B-BBEE and transformation in South Africa,” said Francesco Serafini, senior vice president and managing director of HP Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). “There is huge potential in South Africa and HPBI will help nurture that potential by filling skills shortages and enabling ICT to fully contribute to the development of the country and the region.”