Article 4 Black business teams up with KZN developer - Mercury - 1 Oct 2008   MEMBERS of the National African Federation for the Building Industry (Nafbi) convened at the Riverside Hotel in Durban recently to learn more about property development from the KZN-based eLan Group. The objective of the conference was to start a series of engagements with the eLan Group to enable black entrepreneurs to become developers. The management staff from eLan also made presentations at the event. "For us to drive empowerment we need to put emphasis on enterprise development," said Aubrey Tshalata, secretary-general of Nafbi. The federation is an autonomous board for black-owned construction businesses and focuses on the construction industry across South Africa. Its aim is to empower and grow black businesses through a charter that covers ownership and control, management, employment equity skills development, enterprise development, procurement and corporate social investment. "We have 20 years experience in property development and would like to pass our knowledge to and create partnerships with emerging black developers and contractors," said Mark Taylor, chairman of the eLan Group. Taylor and Tshalate plan to accomplish this by facilitating business partnerships and mentorship programmes. The eLan management team presented the development process from project management to marketing and sales, while Deena Yagan and Rani Pillay from Absa discussed the intricacies of development finance. Tshalata highlighted the property industry as a vehicle to building real and lasting wealth, and encouraged Nafbi members to rise to the challenge.   Back