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In Conversation with the Resurgence Conference · Drive with John Perlman

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Drive home with John Perlman on 702. Let's walk the talk. Well,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: tomorrow sees the start of the Resurgence Conference being hosted
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: in Durban. This conference brings together local and international business leaders,
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  Speaker 1: particularly from the United States. The conference will explore how
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  Speaker 1: building valuable local and global business partnerships can unlock access
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: to funding, investment options, and opportunities. It's an exciting event
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  Speaker 1: at a time when some people think that these kinds
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: of ties are a thing of the past. So let's
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  Speaker 1: welcome into the 702 studio, Reverend Dennis Dillon, who is
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  Speaker 1: the founder of Resurgence. Reverend Dillon, welcome. It's great to
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  Speaker 1: have you with us.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you. Indeed, my pleasure to be with you. Always
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  Speaker 2: good to be my other home here in South Africa.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Good to be with you.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, thanks for giving us your time. So, Resurgence, you're
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  Speaker 1: looking for what you say are practical solutions to building
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  Speaker 1: potential business ties with all the possibilities of upliftment that
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  Speaker 1: that might bring between entrepreneurs in South Africa and a
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  Speaker 1: broader community enabling business and the equivalence in the United States.
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  Speaker 1: Give us an example of what you think could be
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  Speaker 1: achieved by this.
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  Speaker 2: Well, most certainly. We're talking about linkages here. We're talking
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  Speaker 2: about reconnecting particularly the African diaspora with the continent. We
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  Speaker 2: believe that there has been too long an estrangement and
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  Speaker 2: a dichotomy, if you will, between Africans in the continent
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  Speaker 2: and particularly Africans removed from the continent probably centuries ago,
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  Speaker 2: four or five hundred years ago. And because of that,
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  Speaker 2: there has been not enough synergy, not enough collaboration. And
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  Speaker 2: so this whole concept is really about bringing investors to
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  Speaker 2: South Africa, bringing business people to South Africa, bringing elected officials,
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  Speaker 2: government leaders to South Africa, bringing stakeholders to South Africa
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  Speaker 2: and vice versa. And thus, we're now beginning to to
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  Speaker 2: find out what each one are doing, what others are doing,
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  Speaker 2: and how we obviously begin to create the necessary collaboration
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  Speaker 2: for economic growth and small business development, which is certainly
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  Speaker 2: very important to us and to our agenda.
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  Speaker 1: Give us a sense of what you would hope if
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  Speaker 1: we were to chat next Wednesday when the work has
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  Speaker 1: been done and the conversations have been had. Where would
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  Speaker 1: you expect to be? Where would you hope to be? Yeah, certainly.
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  Speaker 2: I want to make sure that many small businesses on
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  Speaker 2: the ground, certainly in Durban, KZN, and across South Africa
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  Speaker 2: and the continent, as we have delegates coming from elsewhere
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  Speaker 2: as well, that they are meeting potential partners, that they
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  Speaker 2: have met potential investors, that they have met people that
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  Speaker 2: they will certainly leave and begin to do business with.
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  Speaker 2: We want to create something like the sharp tank concept.
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  Speaker 2: So at the end of the day, you literally have
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  Speaker 2: potential investors that are talking to businesses that are looking
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  Speaker 2: for funding, looking for partners, looking to collaborate. We believe
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  Speaker 2: as the focus of the conference is really how do
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  Speaker 2: we bridge this gap by creating access and we've really
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  Speaker 2: placed access in three categories. One is access to markets,
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  Speaker 2: which we think is key. How do we get, at
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  Speaker 2: the end of the day, I want to walk away
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  Speaker 2: and say, wow, I know that by next year, there
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  Speaker 2: are going to be a lot more products made in
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  Speaker 2: South Africa that will be on the shelves in the
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  Speaker 2: United States. But more importantly, consumers on the U.S. side
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  Speaker 2: will have access to these products and services and that
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  Speaker 2: folks have more monies to do business and to grow
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  Speaker 2: their business so that they can scale and grow to
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  Speaker 2: the next level.
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  Speaker 1: What I find really interesting, Reverend Dylan, is the world
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  Speaker 1: is being buffeted by huge forces at the moment, and
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  Speaker 1: yet right early on you said, let's get small businesses together.
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  Speaker 1: Let's start with small things that have the potential to
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  Speaker 1: to become big things. Is that a conscious strategy that
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  Speaker 1: even when the wind's howling, you can light candles?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. I think it is conscious from a number
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  Speaker 2: of perspectives for us. The first and most important perspective
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  Speaker 2: is for us to move Africa forward. The reliance upon
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  Speaker 2: major corporations to do that, the reliance upon the big
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  Speaker 2: enterprises to accomplish that, will really not get us far.
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  Speaker 2: We've obviously had that formula in place for literally hundreds
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  Speaker 2: of years, and obviously it hasn't worked for the grassroots enterprises.
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  Speaker 2: We're looking at where there are small, struggling businesses that
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  Speaker 2: are looking to scale, looking to grow, need access to capital.
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  Speaker 2: They need access to government and to corporate contracts, and
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  Speaker 2: they need access to markets. You know, there are other areas,
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  Speaker 2: access to mentorship, access to other partners, access to the
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  Speaker 2: global market. At the end of the day, the average
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  Speaker 2: Korean business, Chinese, a lot of other businesses, they have
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  Speaker 2: relationships and enough relationships abroad, whether we're talking about the US, Europe, elsewhere,
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  Speaker 2: that they could find partners. That is not a true reality.
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  Speaker 2: with small SMEs here in South Africa, and we want
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  Speaker 2: to fix that problem. A big part of the resurgence
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  Speaker 2: movement is to really fix that. So at the end
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  Speaker 2: of the day, any small business in South Africa can say, wow,
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  Speaker 2: I know so-and-so in New York or in Atlanta or
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  Speaker 2: in Kingston, Jamaica or wherever. Let me reach out to
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  Speaker 2: them and see if they could market for me in
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  Speaker 2: Jamaica or if they could open up market opportunities for
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  Speaker 2: me in Georgia or elsewhere.
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  Speaker 1: Well, it's going to be a fascinating few days, and
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  Speaker 1: you can listen to the Clement Manya Teleshow this coming
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  Speaker 1: Monday and Tuesday as he covers the Resurgence Conference in
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  Speaker 1: detail from Durban. It's brought to you by the Itagwini
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  Speaker 1: Municipality on 702. We've been joined in our studio by
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  Speaker 1: Reverend Dennis Dillon, who is the founder of Resurgence, and
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  Speaker 1: we thank you for your time here on 702.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Pleasure being with you. Thank you.