Simon Yiga, a passionate and determined entrepreneur, identified a need for secure and well-managed parking in Johannesburg’s rapidly developing CBD, given the increase in the number of motorists living and working within its confines. The result was the launch of his own inner city parkade management company, Afropark, which looked to provide convenient, affordable and safe parking in 2010.
Afropark rents out and manages parking spaces in Johannesburg’s CBD on behalf of property owners, landlords and mangers. In addition, Afropark offers parking bays that can be rented on an hourly, daily or monthly basis, and manages these spaces using CCTV camera equipment.
The company contributes significantly to the Joburg CBD’s development by employing staff who reside in the inner city, most of whom were previously unemployed. Each employee of Afropark is given a career development plan, to ensure they are progressing whilst working for the business. Afropark contributes further to the proudly South African ethos by using primarily locally made equipment.
Edge Action, Edge Growth’s fund solution for small and medium sized corporates, partnered with Afropark in March 2013, through an introduction from the Branson School of Entrepreneurship. At that stage Afropark was operating at a loss and in need of tailored business development support to unlock the business’ growth potential.
The intervention included primarily securing a lucrative contract with Lofts@66. Simon had previous bad debt which limited his ability to secure new business, Edge Action therefore acted as a reference for the quality of workmanship that Simon provided and as a result Simon was able to add a third parkade to his portfolio. In addition the fund provided the capital needed to install equipment including booms, CCTV, ticket machines, painting and lights to service the parkade for Lofts@66.
