ForgeAhead says 10 companies have subscribed to the service to date. Hewlett-Packard South Africa is sponsoring the initiative, as well as government users' access. There is uncertainty as to the level of fronting in SA, but in an era where all major government and most major corporate tenders have an empowerment aspect, complaints about the practice have become common. Some say it has become routine for three or four black businessmen to establish a closed corporation and funnel contracts through that structure to established companies that do not meet the empowerment criteria. HP believes the Web site will eliminate fronting, and is confident in the methodology used in measuring companies.
Companies have to prove their credentials.
Other sponsorships are available and ForgeAhead says the revenue model may change, but it has no fears about profitability. Joe Lebooa, a former government employee who joined HP four months ago as a business development manager, says the sponsorship by an American company does not reflect negatively on large local companies. Companies in this space are very willing to become involved in empowerment. Today President Supports Foreign Participation in Protection Force Cosatu Condemns Arrest And Detention of Movement Leader Preliminary Inter-Congolese Dialogue to Begin Monday Miss Kampala to Climb Mount.