KwaZulu Natal is poised for a boom in business tourism following the announcement that the province is to host the 2023 World Business Angels Investment Forum, described as a major coup following the triple whammy of floods, social unrest and the pandemic.

The announcement was made by KwaZulu Natal MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Siboniso Duma.

The World Business Angels Investment Forum is an affiliated partner of the G20 Global Partnership of Financial Inclusion. The conference, which is expected to devise a clear roadmap for entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMMEs in the post-COVID 19 environment, will be attended by more than 1 300 delegates from all over the world.

“This is great news for our province’s tourism industry, which is still reeling after it was negatively affected by the COVID 19 pandemic, the social unrest and the floods. We believe that this development is a good omen for our conferencing and tourism industry,” said Duma.

He said the province was aiming to capitalise on the US$800 billion value of the MICE sector. “Our goal is to have a fair slice of this by aggressively positioning our province as a conferencing destination of choice. For us to achieve this, we need to be both agile and dynamic in our approach and this announcement is a foretaste of great things yet to come.”

Duma said the province would use the conference to mobilise funding for SMMEs and the Black Industrialist Programme, and to create strategic partnerships to build sustainable start-ups that could hold their own in the global economic arena.

“The fact that the conference will be held here will open up opportunities for projects that would have ordinarily struggled to get finance. We all know that one of the biggest barriers to entry is finance for many of our SMMEs and start-ups in general. By bringing these angel investors here, we want to change that.”