With fewer funds to fall back on, minority-owned enterprises have struggled in the recession. To make things worse, many are in sectors that have been badly hit by lockdowns.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected businesses owned by Black, Asian and minority ethnic people. Here’s how we can help them bounce back.
South Africa’s food system is dominated by big firms, leaving small businesses to supply localised and under-served markets, and provide rural employment. It needs to be inclusive and diverse.
Small businesses are disproportionately affected by natural disasters. To improve community resilience, we need to help them ‘build back better’.
Independent bookstores are places where culture is collected and disseminated. The gentrification of city centres makes their existence increasingly precarious.
Kévin Langlais on Unsplash, CC BY-NC
The demands of gentrification in some neighbourhoods are proving deadly for some independent businesses, including local bookstores, often forcing them to close.
Taking a loan has never been easier thanks to the proliferation of mobile lending platforms.
Rosenfeld Media/Wikimedia Commons
About two-thirds of Americans now live in states where marijuana is legal for medicinal or recreational purposes, leading some to worry corporate and Wall Street interests will take over the industry.
Informal trading in Fordsburg, Johannesburg.
Shutterstock