Tony da Fonseca The Franchise Association of South Africa (FASA) believes the franchise sector, which contributes 11.6 percent to the country’s GDP and employs close to 400 000 people through its 757 franchise systems and their 35 111 franchise outlets, can play a key role in creating new businesses to grow the economy through innovative venture creations. To this end, the Franchise Association runs an active Transformation, Stakeholders and Funding committee made up of franchisors, funders and government institutions represented by the Department of Small Business Development and its agency sefa to explore new ways to facilitate transformation, empower entrepreneurs and small businesses in bridging inequality whilst creating prosperity and employment.   In view of the National Development Plan’s target of 11 million jobs to be created by 2030, with 90% of those jobs expected to be created by small and expanding formats, solutions to the employment challenge need to be tackl...