Kasi Economy aims to help township economies thrive

With a social media community of more than 100 000, Kabelo Enos Makinta’s vision to help entrepreneurs that were hardest hit by the Level 5 lockdown in 2020 has spiralled into a thriving township economy network. His platform Kasi Economy Group is an empowerment group platform founded in 2020 and was inspired by the effects of the hard lockdown. ” The idea is to get township businesses to empower themselves, and the business but more importantly to utilise the opportunities online marketing offers to create, grow and build sustainable businesses,” says Makinta.

Makinta says seeing businesses left feeling hopeless but he knew he had to do something, “Being a servant and a patriotic South African, I thought let me apply my digital marketing skills to empower the affected township businesses and to help them get more exposure. Mostly, I would like to use [Kasi Economy] to influence policy so that we can cultivate and contribute to a fruitful township economy in general.”

Having built a strong loyal community over the years has enabled him to forge relationships with influential township economy stakeholders, including government leaders and corporate. This has in turn cultivated an ecosystem that enables entrepreneurs to access the resources they need to solidify their businesses. “I have helped businesses with free marketing and gain large numbers of monthly views and converting these to paid marketing would not be financially accessible to some of the businesses.”

Kairos Leplanka @kairosleplanka is a black owned, eco-jewellery company. They specialise in high end personalised wooden timepieces and accessories. They are running a 10% off all watches for September.
Web: https://t.co/px7U5kVaap
Whatsapp link: https://t.co/Q4LtX6Eymv pic.twitter.com/xVhMJaGS3F

— Kasi Economy (@KasiEconomy) September 16, 2022

Smanga Mthembu has shown true Kasi innovation. His business, Umphakathi Recyclers, provides funeral cover in exchange for recyclables like PET bottles to the people of Soweto.
Check out Smanga's story in the PETCO docu-series: https://t.co/OTdS1zgia2 pic.twitter.com/VEPqPbm180

— Kasi Economy (@KasiEconomy) September 15, 2022

Looking ahead

Looking ahead, Makinta says he would like to learn more about the ins and outs of the township economy so he can contribute more on the sides of regulations and policy marking. “We need to create a system that is beneficial to entrepreneurs. There are challenges still but we need to mitigate the challenges that we are currently facing.”

According to Fifi Peters article ‘How will the Township Economic Development Act impact the economy?‘ the township economy is estimated to be worth over 400 billion rands and employs 2.6 million people through various informal businesses across the country.

Makinta however says as picturesque as this may seem, Kasi-based entrepreneurs, need to migrate to the digital space to sustain their growth. “They need to embrace change and evolve because, with the right resources and infrastructure. They can grow and tap into areas that will increase their foot traffic and sales.”

Get your business’ service or products promoted on Kasi Economy by emailing info@KasiEconomy.co.za

Please note to include the following

• Company profile
• High-resolution images of your business or products
• Contact details.