Accelerit, a small to medium enterprise (SME) that forms part of the 2019 intake of beneficiaries of the Accenture Enterprise and Supplier Development Programme (ESDP), has been appointed to run Accenture SA’s entire connectivity network nationwide.
The SME was established by tech entrepreneur Mandla Ngcobo in 2013, and now employs over 30 people.
Accelerit says it previously partnered and worked with DFA, Openserve, Liquid Telecom, Frogfoot, Seacom, MTN, Metro Fibre, Netstream, SADV and Octotel to be able to provide nationwide services.
“Considering the scale of Accenture’s network, which includes more than 300 000 clients that they connect with across the country, this will not only constitute our largest project to date, but it will also lead to explosive growth that will elevate our business to completely new heights,” says Ngcobo, founder and managing director of Accelerit.
Accelerit provides wired and wireless high-speed Internet connectivity to homes and businesses. Since being founded, the enterprise has built its own network that currently provides connectivity to about 10 000 houses in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg, it says.
It claims a key differentiator that set Accelerit apart on the home front was the launch of a “South African-first prepaid fibre offering that makes it possible for users to have access to Internet connectivity on a pay-as-you-go basis”.
Accenture’s ESDP applies global best-practice principles to scale and sustain the entrepreneurs and small business suppliers with which it partners. According to the consultancy firm, the aim is to increase the participation of black-owned SMEs within its own supply chain and in the wider economy.
Ncgobo notes that being part of the Accenture ESDP has presented the SME with a wealth of new opportunities.
He points out that when Accelerit enrolled at the start of 2019, the SME was guided through all the compliance processes and was listed on the Accenture Supplier Database.
“Within a month of being listed, we already received requests for business assistance from various units of Accenture. We have also been able to jointly tender for major projects with Accenture.”
Zandile Njamela, Accenture Global supplier inclusion and diversity and ESDP lead, explains Accenture follows a blended, six-pillar approach that was purposefully designed to best leverage the firm’s capabilities, resources and talent to provide tailored support for each SME that forms part of the ESDP.
Two of these pillars are “access to market” and “collaboration for high performance”, she notes.
“On the one hand, we increase access to market for these SMEs by presenting them with commercial opportunities within our own supply chain, as well as that of our clients. On the other hand, in instances where it could add value for our clients’ projects and contribute to high-performance delivery, we also form alliances with these SMEs and other industry partners,” states Njamela.
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