Franchise Conference speaker line-up

The full day conference programme will cover a range of important issues relevant to franchising – with the two key focuses being the results of the franchisor survey and by extension engaging with the Minister of Small Business Development on the strength of the franchise sector and what we need government to do to allow small business to recover and thrive. Book now to hear the following speakers cover key issues.

Tom Mkwanazi, CEO of the Wholesale & Retail Seta (W&RSETA)

As a sponsor of the FASA Conference, access to quality education and training for South Africans, particularly young people, remains at the top of the W&RSETA’s agenda. For 23 years, learnerships have been the backbone of skills development providing millions of employees in various sectors with on-the-job education and training. They have also been a key enabler for equipping unemployed young people with required skills to enter the world of work. As many franchisors fall under the W&RSETA, wholesale and retail companies have taken advantage of the initiatives that result in a win-win for both employers and employees.

Justin Schmidt, Head: Manufacturing, Renewable Energy & Transport Logistics, Absa

Tackling the very crucial topic of solutions to the energy crisis, Justin Schmidt of Absa will give valuable insight into the current energy crisis landscape and offers sustainable solutions. “Over the past decade, solar PV has become a very cost competitive solution, a no-brainer with South Africa’s abundance of sunlight and solar resources. With power challenges facing the economy, the renewable energy sector plays a vital role in providing additional energy security to the grid. Absa, a sponsor of the FASA Conference has offered sustainable solutions and funding across the board.”

Greg Nathan, Founder, Franchise Relationships Institute

No-one understands what it takes to succeed in franchising like Australian Greg Nathan. Greg has been a business psychologist for 40 years and is Founder of the highly respected Franchise Relationships Institute. His unique insight into how franchisees and franchisors can maximize their successes comes from his extensive research and practical work, with over 550 franchise brands worldwide. Greg is author of several best-selling franchising books including Profitable Partnerships, and developer of many influential franchising models such as The Franchise E-Factor. Greg’s enthusiasm for franchising, and his balanced, down-to-earth approach, come from his deep respect for small business owners, and his experience as a successful multi-unit franchisee and senior franchisor executive.

Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, Minister of the Department of Small Business Development

In these trying times, now is the time that government needs to recognise that the franchise business model is one of the best vehicles to stimulate entrepreneurship, skills transfer and job creation – not only in mainstream businesses but also in proven models such as micro franchising and social/tandem franchising. FASA has been actively engaging with the Department of Small Business Development to mobilise effectively, and put in place a conducive operating environment and better funding. The honourable minister will be addressing the conference, and a panel discussion will discuss the question of ‘what government should be doing…?

Ornica Mukhavhuli, Director – Inani NPC Incubator Accelerator

After a decade of lobbying and fine-tuning, FASA, together with Inani NPC, a non-profit incubator accelerator, have formed a long-standing partnership in accelerating the multiplication of proved industry transformation models. Ornica Mukhavhuli will elaborate on the initiatives that will benefit franchisors that include providing funding, training, development, support and guiding services for businesses and individuals, representing Employer Associations, to be its Socio Economic Transformation (SET) partner focusing on transformation for equal opportunities and acceleration inclusion of differently abled communities.

Margaret Constantaras, Research Head at Research EQ

Research and surveys are, on the face of it, all about the cold hard facts of statistics and the numbers – what’s the turnover, contribution to GDP and how many outlets make up this important business sector – but in reality the success that is being celebrated with the release of the franchise survey lies in the strength of the franchise system and the community behind the brands, the franchisees behind the businesses, offering their products and services. Margaret Constantaras unpacks this 8th independent survey of the how the sector weathered the past four years and how they see the future of their franchise businesses. A panel discussion which will include some of the franchisors that participated in the survey will discuss the crucial question of “where do we go from here….?”

Toby Shapshak – Editor-in-Chief and publisher of Stuff magazine

Toby Shapshak writes and speaks about how technology has fundamentally changed how we work and play, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic dramatically changed the world. He writes about how innovation is better in Africa. I define innovation as solving problems, like the real problems we have in Africa. And solving those problems solves them for the rest of the world. Africa isn’t just mobile-first, it’s mobile-only. As editor-in-chief and publisher of Stuff, a Forbes senior contributor and a columnist for the Financial Mail and Daily Maverick he has been writing about technology and the internet for 28 years and his TED Global talk on innovation in Africa has over 1,5-million views. He has written about Africa’s tech and start-up ecosystem for Forbes, CNN and The Guardian in London.

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