WHO WE ARE
Black Umbrellas is an enterprise and supplier development (ESD) incubation organisation that partners with entrepreneurs, enterprises, investors and communities, to drive an inclusive and sustainable economic future by addressing the low levels of entrepreneurship and high failure rate of 100% black-owned emerging businesses in Africa.
We focus on developing qualifying businesses to a level where they can gain meaningful access to procurement, finance and networks and then facilitating access to these opportunities. While our programmes and platforms are available to any business at any stage of their development, our primary enabler is the Enterprise and Supplier Development requirements of the B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice.
Through our Enterprise Development Programme we develop qualifying businesses to a level where they are supply chain and finance ready. Our Non-Profit Company enables 100% black owned businesses which are unable to afford the programme to participate at no charge.
Our consultancy business, together with CGC Consulting, provides an end to end supplier development solution from strategic supply chain and procurement de-risking and optimisation to designing development roadmaps for existing and potential suppliers as well as the sourcing of suitable suppliers.
The Black Umbrellas Mianzo SMME ESD Debt Fund provides pre-invoice working capital finance to businesses receiving non-financial support from Black Umbrellas.
Black Umbrellas Payment Accelerator is a patented supply chain finance and invoice validation platform that provides businesses with access to the short term finance solutions they need to grow.
We operate in a multi-stakeholder collaborative environment with the common purpose of achieving economic and social change through action, inspiration and support. In order to create a sustainable programme to harness and strengthen Africa’s entrepreneurs, Black Umbrellas works through a platform of co-operation between civil society, the private sector and government so that the correct resources, skills , support and opportunities are in place to support development at all levels.
Our story
Black Umbrellas was first conceived by Cape Town social entrepreneurs Charles Maisel and Mark Frankel to support 100% black owned SMMEs. In 2009 the Shanduka Foundation (now Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation) partnered with Black Umbrellas to escalate the project countrywide with R5.2 million invested in the set up and operation of the Johannesburg incubator. Cyril Ramaphosa, patron of the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation, is deeply committed to the vision of Black Umbrellas as a catalyst in the development of entrepreneurs, a sector he has identified as critical to the empowerment of historically marginalised South Africans.
We are a sum of our parts
Who we partner with is an indication of our success. Since the early days of our inception, we have partnered with the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation, supporting the Foundation’s vision of a South Africa that fosters an inclusive and empowered society. We have also collaborated with industry-leading corporations, innovative foundations, impactful development groups, and investment firms
such as:
Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation
Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Endowment
Center for Regenerative Design and Collaboration (CRDC)
Council for Scientific and Industiral Research (CSIR)
Innovator Trust
Macsteel Usizo programme
Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA)
SAICA Enterprise Development
The Hope Factory
The South African National Blood Service
